A journey of a lifetime
by IchigoHatake
Summary: Ichigo is a 16 year old girl who is starting her Pokémon journey a bit late. She isn't the only one though. Miku, Kohaku, and Akako are all late trainers as well. But what will happen as all of them are forced to face Team Millennium, a criminal organization that wants to kill all Pokémon? Ichigo not only has to tackle this team, but contests and her lovelife too. OCs. Review Plz!
1. The Beginning!

Chapter 1

I groaned as the sunlight burned my eyes. I sprang out of bed and shut the blinds in a rage. Why were they open? I never open them!

It was then that I noticed the time 7:34. I had to be at the Professor's lab in half an hour! That's why I opened the blinds. I needed to wake up.

Oh. Hello! My name is Ichigo Hatake. I'm 16 years old and I'm a 'late' Pokémon trainer, meaning that I am getting my beginning Pokemon and going on my journey later than most people.

I live here in the Petilla region. In this region, you can pick out any starter you want from any region. I've already got one in mind.

I threw on my clothes, brushed my hair and teeth, then grabbed my brand new backpack.

I wore my red hair down without any real style. I wore a black shoulderless shirt with purple straps and netting. I also wore black shorts and some tennis shoes.

I ran out the door, shooting down the path that would lead me to my destiny. I was so excited I couldn't breathe.

To receive my first Pokémon, I needed to head to Professor Pine's lab which should be straight down this dirt trail.

According to the professor herself, I'm not the only late trainer. There are three others who will join me up at the lab. That gave me a little more confidence. At least I wasn't the only one who started late.

I smiled brightly as the lab came into view. It looked amazing. It was painted completely white and had unique carvings and features. It was like a mini castle.

As I stepped up to the doors, they opened automatically, a cool breeze sweeping past me as I walked in.

I stared in awe at all the machines and scientists running about the lab. It looked so impressive. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

I looked over to my right to see three different trainers standing before an adult. That must be Professor Pine and the other late trainers.

Professor Pine had long, messy blue hair that was tied back. She wore a long lab coat and wore flat shoes. She smiled at me and gestured for me to come over.

I stood in line next to a male trainer. Professor Pine smiled at us and brought out several Pokeballs.

"You three will all receive one Pokémon from one of these Pokeballs," stated the Prof. as she pushed back a strand of hair. "But I'd like you to introduce yourselves before choosing your Pokémon. Let's start with you."

She pointed to the trainer farthest from me. He had black glasses and orange eyes and hair. He wore a sort of 'formal' and 'nerdy' outfit. He looked like a brainiac.

"My name is Kohaku," he said, smiling over at me in particular. I waved slightly and then the next person came forward.

She had long light purple hair that reached down to her waist and eyes that matched. She also wore a cute plain purple dress and flower sandals.

"Hi. I'm Miku," she said, winking.

The next one to step up was the guy next to me. He wore a blank expression as if he had no emotion. His hair was bright and golden and his eyes were a gorgeous green. He wore a black sweatshirt with a black and white checkered jacket over it. He also wore jeans and tennis shoes. He was really attractive.

"Akako," was all he said. Nothing else.

Finally, it was my turn to introduce myself. "I'm Ichigo Hatake, future top coordinator!"

Miku smiled. "I'm no coordinator, but I'm going to be the best at battles!"

Kohaku, clearly amused, chuckled at Miku. "Actually, the future champion is going to be ME."

I turned over to Akako, who didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation. "What do you want to do?"

He didn't answer, he just stared over at all the Pokeballs. As if on cue, the Professor gestured over to them.

"Do you know which Pokemon you'd like?!"

Kohaku nodded. "I would like your Snivy."

Professor Pine nodded and grabbed a Pokemon pretty far down on the table. She tossed it over to Kohaku, who caught it with ease.

Miku was the next one to choose. "I want Squirtle! It's so cute!"

Professor Pine smiled and handed her the Pokeball. "Raise it with care."

I then took the chance to answer. "I'd love to be partners with Torchic!"

Pine handed me the Pokeball and I hugged it close to my chest. It was the official start of my journey.

I barely heard Akako, but he said, "Treecko please."

That's cool. Akako and I both chose Pokemon from the Hoenn region. Maybe our Pokemon would be friends!

I excitedly threw my Pokeball, calling out my Torchic. A gleam of red light formed into the shape of a Pokemon. Then, Torchic was standing before me, smiling cutely.

"Torchic!" it greeted.

I pet the Torchic as it ran over to me. It was so fluffy and warm. I embraced it happily as it called out its name cutely.

Then, Kohaku approached me, scanning my Torchic with some weird device.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

Kohaku pushed a button on the device. "This is an invention I made. It tells what gender your Pokemon is. That Torchic is female."

I smiled. "That's so cool! Do you have any more of those devices?"

Kohaku nodded and smiled. "I'll give one to all of you free."

Everyone except for Akako applauded as we discovered our Pokemon's genders. Torchic was a girl. Squirtle was a boy. Snivy was a boy. Treecko was a boy. I had the only female Pokemon.

Akako didn't seem all that interested in his Pokemon's gender. I looked away from him and turned myself back over to Torchic.

I dug through my backpack and pulled out a pink bow with white stripes and dots. I placed it on Torchic.

"There! You look so cute in it!" I exclaimed.

As Torchic danced happily, I stood up and grabbed my Pokedex from the professor. It was a different design from those of other regions.

Mine was a bright pink color with black designs. It had round edges and was almost circular. It looked really cool.

As I admired both my Pokemon and the Pokedex, I heard a loud crash come from outside the lab.

I fell down, the crash causing a mini earthquake. I held tight to my Torchic until the shake ended.

Professor eyes widened in fear and shock. She stood up and ran towards the exit. "Follow me!" she yelled out to us.

I held tight to Torchic as we all followed Professor Pine outside. What had caused that earthquake?


	2. The End?

Chapter 2

I never would've predicted what had caused that earthquake. As we walked out of the lab, we found ourselves surrounded by men and women in strange uniforms.

Their outfits were all black lab coats with no design except for a single white infinity sign on it front.

There were only three people who stood out more than the others. A man, a girl our age, and a boy our age.

The man was very tall and buff, wearing a black muscle shirt along with some sweat pants. His hair was white and his eyes were a bloody red. He looked terrifying.

The girl had orange hair that matched Kohaku's perfectly. She had bright yellow eyes that pierced into my soul. Her lab coat was white and buttoned down unlike the others. She held a laptop.

Finally, the boy had night black hair and cold grey eyes. He wore a black long sleeve shirt that was a bit ripped up. He also wore worn out jeans with chains. His feet were bare.

Kohaku suddenly fell to his knees in tears as he stared at the orange haired girl in the lab coat.

Professor Pine ran over to him immediately. "Kohaku?! What's wrong?!"

Tears streamed down his face rapidly. He removed his glasses and wiped a few away. "That girl...is my sister."

He pointed over at the girl in the lab coat. Why was he crying so much though?

"She ran away from home to join a criminal organization..."

Criminal organization?! Everyone, including Mr. Expressionless Akako, stared at him in shock.

"Criminals?" questioned Prof. Pine. "These are criminals?"  
The red eyed man laughed and stepped forward, his tall, muscular build intimidating us all.

He chuckled evilly. "That's right. Hello. My name is Akuma and I'm the leader of Team Millennium."

"What's Team Millennium?" questioned Miku in a quiet voice.

Akuma burst into laughter. "I was hoping you'd ask that. Care to explin, Ishi?"

The boy with the black hair, who must be Ishi, stepped forward, smiling over at me in a weird way.

"Team Millennium is an organization of people standing together to destroy all Pokémon."

Everyone gasped. DESTROY all Pokemon? They were going to kill them all off? They were joking, right?

Before I knew what I was saying, I spat it out. "You CAN'T kill all the Pokemon!"

Akuma laughed. "And who do you think can stop us?!"

Ishi then appeared behind me and snatched away my Torchic. I reached out just in time and stole her back. No one was taking Torchic.

Ishi laughed. "You're kind of feisty."

I snorted. "What do you people want here?!"

Tsubaki clicked a key on her keyboard and everything started to get wild. "We're here to kill the lab's Pokémon."

Suddenly, thousands of tiny robots flew at us in all directions, shooting tiny beams at us. One hit me and I cried out as it singed my skin.

Along with the robots, the members of Team Millennium began to attack at full force, pulling out knives and small guns.

I immediately called my Torchic back into its Pokeball and the others did the same. Professor Pine turned over to us, her face burned by the beams.

"Children, run! And take your Pokémon far away from here!"

Each of us obeyed her, running in a pack out into the forest and passed the Millennium members.

As I ran deeper and deeper into the woods, I realized I had lost the others. I stopped in my tracks, spinning around and trying to find them. I called out, but no one replied.

Just then, a Beedrill sprang out from behind a bush, spinning around its stingers and buzzing at me.

I tried to run from it, but tripped on a tree root and got a face full of dirt. The Beedrill came at my like a rocket.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the attack to hit, but it never did. I slowly opened my eyes and gasped at what I saw.

There stood Ishi, plunging a knife into the Beedrill's body. The poor Pokemon cried in agony as all its energy drained away. Finally, it stopped buzzing. It was dead.

Ishi turned to me, eyes cold. "Do you see why we want to kill the Pokémon? Not only do they attack humans, but we constantly abuse their powers nd cause strife. The world would be better without them."

I stared up at him, my eyes tearing up t the sight of the bloodied Beedrill. Did he think what his team was doing was good It wasn't. Nothing was worth the massacre of our Pokémon.

He sighed. "So you don't understand. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm afraid that I need to dispose of your Torchic."

I backed away from him, fear rising in me as he removed the knife from Beedrill and pointed it over at me.

"This would be so much easier if you didn't resist. You don't know that Torchic very well anyways. Just give it to me."

I shook my head and stepped back even more. "No way! This Torchic is my friend!"

He chuckled. "But for how long? What if that Pokémon ever turned on you? What then?"

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't answer. He sighed and raised his knife. "You're pretty cute ya know. Maybe after this is over, you can join Team Millennium with me."

As he came forward, I turned and ran, sprinting away from him. I kept running until I reached a dead end. There was a cliff.

As I turned around to head back, I saw Ishi push his way into the clearing. I was cornered.

I tried to take a step back, but I couldn't step back any further. I fell down the cliff, plunging downward. Luckily, I grabbed on to a crack in the rock.

The problem was, I was halfway down the cliff and I couldn't climb back up or down. All I could do was hang on tight...


	3. Blood, Tears, and Our Resolve!

Chapter 3

I never would've expected what happened next. Out of no where, a Pidgeot came flying towards me, scooping my up under the arms with its talons. I screamed in fear at first, but then realized this Pokemon must be owned by someone.

As I looked down, I saw two figures. One of them I knew must be Ishi, but who was the other person?

As Pidgeot flew down lower, I got a better look. I gasped in surprise. The mute and anti social Akako had come to rescue me.

He had his Treecko out, but soon returned it, knowing that Ishi would only try to kill it. He raised his fists to Ishi, wanting to fight.

Pidgeot lowered me down into a tree where we both hid and watched. The two guys were about to fight.

"Who are you?" questioned Ishi, hands in pockets and ignoring Akako's raised fists.

I heard Akako's voice loud and clear. "The name's Akako. I'm the guy who's gonna take you down."

Ishi laughed as if he'd said some hilarious joke. "That's rich! You think you can take me out? There's just no way!"

Akako snarled. "Talk with your fists, not your meaningless words. Or are you not man enough to fight me?"

Ishi scoffed. I could tell his pride was being threatened. He took on a defense stance and smirked at Akako.

"Whenever you're ready!"

Akako took a quick shot, giving him a swift kick in the chest. He was so fast and could kick so high! I almost couldn't track what he was doing.

Ishi got up and wiped some blood from his nose. Then, he ran and tackled Akako, trying to pin him down.

It didn't work. Akako took control and rolled over so that he was on top of Ishi. He raised a fist and punched Ishi in the face.

Ishi pushed Akako hard, managing to get him off of him, then he quickly got up and kicked Akako while he was down.

Before Akako had a chance to counter, Ishi grabbed his knife and held it to his throat. Akako gulped and glared at Ishi.

"Hey girl?!" Ishi cried out. "I know you're out there! Come out or this guy is dead!"

My heart seemed to stop. Did he mean it or was it a bluff? Akako decided his fate for me.

"Ichigo, right?! Run away! Don't let him have your Pokemon! I promise I'll be fine!"

I wanted to respond, but before I could, Pidgeot latched on to me and carried me off again.

"Where are you taking me?!" I asked it.

"Pidg!" it replied.

Oh yeah. Stupid me. Pokemon can't talk. I just had to hold on to the bird and wait until we reached our destination.

It brought me back to the lab, but it didn't really look like a lab anymore. It was broken and dilapidated. It looked unfixable.

At first, I was happy to see that Miku, Kohaku, and the Professor were okay, but then I noticed that they were all crying. My heart sank.

I shouldn't have asked, but I did. "What's wrong?"

Miku looked up at me, her beautiful purpl eyes full of tears. "Squirtle's hurt."

She was right. There was a pretty large gash in its left leg. Poor thing must have barely escaped the wrath of Team Millennium.

Kohaku answered next. "What's wrong?! My sister, Tsubaki, is a part of this Pokemon killing team!"

I felt an ache in my chest. I couldn't imagine how he felt. His own flesh and blood had tried to kill his Pokemon today. Plus, he hadn't seen her in two years! So she greets him by trying to kill his Pokemon?

Kohaku let more tears rain down. "My own sister is an enemy..."

The professor was also devastated. Crying more than anyone else.

"Not only did they destroy my lab, but all the Pokemon inside of it!" she couldn't talk anymore as she sobbed harder. Once she calmed down more, she spoke again. "And I was powerless to do anything to stop them!"

Noticing how dirty, terrified, and shaken I looked, Kohaku decided to point my question back at me.

"What's wrong? Did something happen to you?"

I started crying too, all my fear and nightmares pouring out of me. This hadn't been what I pictured when I thought of getting my first Pokemon.

"I almost died...I was hanging off a cliff...but Akako saved me...but he's still in danger."

As if on cue, Akako stumbled out the woods, blood running down from his shoulder down to his fingers. Everyone gasped in surprise.

Miku ripped off a part of her dress and tied it around his wound. Akako protested, but she didn't listen. We all ran over to him at once.

"What happened?!" screamed Kohaku.

"Are you okay?" asked Miku.

Professor Pine cursed under her breath. "Dammit...I'm so useless. I can't protect anyone..."

"Professor...," I muttered.

Akako shut us all up.

"I'm fine! Where's my Pidgeot?"

"Pidgeot!" it called out, flying over to its trainer.

Pidgeot grabbed onto him, pulling him up into the air.

"I'm going now! Don't follow me!" demanded Akako. "By the way, I didn't kill that guy from Team Millennium!"

It was as if Akako had just read my mind. I was wondering if he had done away with Ishi or not. I was glad he didn't, but I was worried about if he'd come back for us.

Torchic then popped out of its Pokeball and fumbled over to me, nudging against my leg, its soft feathers warming me.

I picked her up and held her tight. "Don't worry, Torchic. I won't let anyone hurt you."

The professor turned to us. "Do you all still want to go on your journeys?"

Kohaku nodded and stood up. "I'm not going to let this mishap ruin my adventure! Just called the police to handle those guys that attacked us.

Miku nodded. "I still wanna go too! After someone helps Squirtle though of course!"

Everyone then turned to me. "What'll you do?"

I snuggled Torchic, cradling it like a baby. "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger, right? I'm not only going to go on my journey and become a top coordinator, but I'm going to take down Team Millennium!"

Kohaku grunted in agreement. "I'm with you."

"Me too!" sang Miku.

So I guess it was decided. I'd go on my journey, meet new Pokemon, win every contest, and along the way I'd kick Team Millennium's ass. Sounded like a journey of a lifetime.


	4. A New Friend!

Chapter 4

After the encounter with the evil Team Millennium, everyone had decided to split of and go their separate ways, each of us shooting for very different goals.

Akako had flew off with Pidgeot and warned us not to follow him and Kohaku and Miku ran off together to compete and various Pokemon Gyms. So now, I was alone with only my Torchic to accompany me.

Torchic trailed close behind me, squawking happily. She seemed so much happier outside of her pokeball. Maybe I should just keep her out. Besides, a little exercise never hurt. The breeze felt nice too.

Where were we heading off to? We were walking towards Oleshire town. I heard that a contest would be taking place there and I wanted to enter Torchic in the competition.

It didn't take very long at all to reach town. Oleshire was a small town with relatively small houses to match it. Everyone around here looked very plain and simple except for one particular girl who stuck out like a sore thumb.

She had long, beautiful blue hair and green eyes full of wisdom. She wore a blue and white dress with sleeves that didn't attach to the dress itself. She also had boots that matched with everything else. She looked about my age.

Standing beside her was one of the most beautiful Pokemon I'd ever seen. It was a fox Pokemon with tricky eyes nd it was yellow in color. It had lots of tails. More than any other Pokemon I'd seen before! Its fur was well groomed as well. According to my pokedex, it was a Ninetales.

I tried not to stare, but my eyes were glued on the two. It looked like they were practicing some sort of routine.

The girl ordered Ninetales to use several different moves. Not only were the moves very powerful, but they were absolutely gorgeous! I could've watched forever, entranced by the performance. But then, the girl looked over and saw me.

Embarrassed for staring and afraid that she'd be mad that I had been 'spying,' I grabbed Torchic and began to walk away, hoping she wouldn't follow. Before I got too far, she grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. I gulped.

I began to sweat as I nervously turned around and met her eyes. I expected there to be a look of anger on her face, but there wasn't. She smiled at me warmly.

"Hi!" she greeted me cheerfully. "You must be new in town. I'm Kokoa. Who are you?"

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled politely. "My name is Ichigo!" Then I looked down at my Pokemon. "And this is my partner, Torchic!"

The Ninetales walked up to Kokoa and nudged her hand, yipping in annoyance at her. Kokoa laughed.

"Sorry. This is MY partner, Ginger. As you can see, she's a bit bossy."

The Ninetales turned away from her, pouting. Kokoa laughed and ruffled her fur.

I cocked my head in confusion. "Ginger?"

Kokoa nodded and rubbed Ginger's furry chest. "It's a nickname! Don't you nickname your Pokemon?"

I looked down at Torchic and blinked. "I guess I don't. Maybe I should."

Kokoa smiled and patted Torchic's head lovingly. She seemed really good with Pokemon.

After considering it for a while, I came up with a nickname for her.

"How about Amber?" I asked Torchic. "It seems like it would suit you."

"Chic!" Torchic responded, hopping out from my arms and doing a cute little happy dance.

I laughed and picked her back up. "Ok Goofball! Amber it is."

Kokoa smiled and looked up at me. "So what brings you to Oleshire? Not many people visit."

I smiled. "I heard they were going to hold a contest here and I wanted to compete!"

Kokoa frowned. "Do you have two Pokemon?"

"No." I only had Amber.

"Do you have any experience?"

"No," I admitted.

Kokoa sighed and shook her head. "The Oleshire contest is a double performance. Do you know what that is?"

I nodded and she continued.

"So you need two Pokemon if you want to compete. Also, if you don't have any experience..."

Kokoa pulled a small case out of her bag and opened it up for me to see. Inside her case were two sparkling ribbons.

"I'm a trainer/coordinator and I won't be competing in this particular contest, so I can give you some appearance and battling tips."

I nodded and smiled brightly. "Thank you! That would be great!"

She smiled at me as if I were a little kid getting overly excited over something. "Alright, but before I can give you any tips on double performance battle, you'll have to capture another Pokemon."

I frowned. The concept of capturing and raising new Pokemon was a completely new subject to me. Why had I started out on my journey so late?

I tore through my bag until I found what I'd been looking for. A pulled out five neatly polished pokeballs.

"You use these to catch them right?" I asked confusedly.

She smiled at me again. "Yeah. You need to battle the Pokemon and weaken it, then throw one of your pokeballs at it to catch it."

I nodded my head, beginning to understand now. "You'll help me catch one, right?"

She laughed. "Of course!" she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along. "Come on. I know a great place to catch Pokemon for beginner's like you. Let's go!"

Amber chirped happily. That's when I realized that a wild Pokemon encounter would result in the first battle Torchic and I have ever had!

I never knew that a journey could bring on so many challenges and new experiences. I smiled and held my head high. Torchic did the same.

As I followed behind Kokoa I couldn't help but wonder about something. Who would my first Pokemon be?

* * *

Thank you to all of those who are reading my OC story! And a special thank you to those who have reviewed! My OC Kokoa is based off of my fellow author and friend, Rurupuppy2854! I tried to capture her personality in the character. She'll only become more sarcastic as we go though! *laughs* Anyway, thank you for reading once again and I hope you have a pleasant day! P.S. Who is your favorite character so far and the reason why! Please put it in your review! Bye! (Also, thank you to those of you who take the time to read my little notes)

-IchigoHatake


	5. Fail Until You Catch It!

Chapter 5

Kokoa led me to a small meadow where many wild flowers and lush greenery grew. It felt so peaceful here. Even the air was pleasant.

My thoughts were interrupted as an Eevee hopped out of a near by bush, its eyes determined. It was in a battle-ready stance.

Kokoa pushed me closer to it. "This is your chance! Weaken it and throw a pokeball at it!"

I smirked at the Eevee. I was going to catch it. I'd make it my first Pokémon no matter what it took!

I looked through my pokedex to see what Amber's moves were and then, I was ready. Prepare yourself, Eevee!

"Amber, use ember on the Eeevee!"

Amber spat out tiny balls of fire at the Eevee. The Pokémon swiftly dodged, doing a backflip to avoid being singed by the flames.

Then, it was Eevee's turn to strike. And it would counter very well. A large, dark orb shot out from Eevee and at my Torchic, striking her hard. It had used shadow ball.

"Get up Amber!" I shouted to Torchic, but it was too late. Torchic was down for the count.

The Eeevee, knowing it was victorious, mocked me. It stuck out its little pink tongue and gave me a dirty look before scampering back off into the forest. I growled in frustration.

Koko patted my shoulder sympathetically. "It's alright. Just try again next time. And don't get knocked out before you get the chance to throw a Pokeball."

I sighed and nodded, still upset. I decided to take her advice and keep trying. Catching a Pokémon was no simple task. If I gave up now, what was I supposed to do about the contest?

I kept battling each Pokémon I encountered. This time, I actually got the chance to throw some Pokeballs. I tried to capture Sewaddle, Swablu, Ducklett, and a Gible, but all of them just popped back out of the Pokeballs. I'd wasted four Pokeballs and I only had one left.

With only one Pokeball, the pressure of this next capture was too much pressure to bear. I had to use this wisely, otherwise I was done.

Koko pushed me forward. "Come on! Keep trying! You won't get any work done just standing there!"

I groaned, still bummed out. "Did YOU have this much trouble catching a Pokémon?"  
She thought for a second, then answered, "I guess. It's pretty hard to try catching something for the first time. It's well worth it though. Now I have three happy and healthy Pokémon."

My eyes lit up. She had more? "Can I see them?!"

Kokoa giggled. "Of course!"

She grabbed two Pokeballs out of her bag and threw them up in the air, calling two creatures out.

Her first Pokémon, was of course, Ginger the Ninetales. The two others, as my Pokedex said, were Riolu and Ducklett.

Kokoa smiled and gestured towards Riolu. "This is the first Pokémon I caught! Ruru the Riolu!"

I smiled and waved. The adorable Pokémon waved back at me.

Kokoa then pointed at Ducklett. "This is the newest member of my team! Pilot is his name!"

The Ducklett quacked at me, greeting me happily.

I stared at all of her Pokémon in awe. "You have a lot of cool Pokémon."

Kokoa nodded proudly. "Now it's time for you to catch one of your own!"

Kokoa returned Ruru and Pilot. I clenched my fists, feeling more determined than ever. I had to catch a Pokémon! I just had to!

Just then, with perfect timing, two different colored Kirlia walked out into the open. On was colored normally and the other one was blue. They appeared to be siblings.

At the sight of us, the blue one startled and ran away from us. The normal one however, just stared at us, seeing my determination and wanting to battle.

Koko pointed at the Kirlia and gave me a shove. "Go get it! That one is just begging for a fight! Show it what you've got!"

I looked down at Torchic, seeing how pumped she was. "Are you ready, Amber?"

"Tor!" it replied, shooting out some fire.

"Alright! Hit that Kirlia with Ember!"

Torchic blasted out its dire, and this time, unlike in the fight with Eevee, it hit its target, sending Kirlia flying backwards into the dirt.

Kirlia hopped back up to its feet and brushed itself off. Then, its eyes began to glow as it used psychic. It used the move to pick up Torchic and throw her to the ground.

Torchic struggled to get up and I held my breath. Had we lost already? I sighed in relief as she got back on her feet.

"Tackle it!" I called out, my heart beating faster.

Torchic slammed head first into Kirlia and knocked it clean off its feet. I wasn't going to let it get back up.

"Weaken it a little more with peck!"

Torchic hit into Kirlia with her hard beak, slowly draining away the Pokemon's HP. It was time to catch it.

I pulled out my last Pokeball and kissed it for good luck, praying that this would work. Then, I threw it at Kirlia.

"Go Pokeball!" I called as I threw it.

It hit Kirlia and sucked it inside with a red beam of light. The Pokeball wobbled around as Kirlia tried to see if it could break free. 1...2...3! The ball stopped moving.

I stood there, dumbstruck until Kokoa elbowed me in the side lightly, waking me from my hypnotised state.

"Go pick it up! You caught it!" she informed me.

I went over and picked up the ball, staring at it dumbly. I felt like I was in a dream. Had I really done it?

I tossed the Pokeball high up in the air. Kirlia came out of it, landing on its feet. This was no dream. I had my first Pokémon!

Kirlia looked up at me, bowing. I looked confused and Kokoa laughed. I turned to her, confused.

"Why is it bowing like that?" I asked.

Kokoa smiled. "It's honoring the fact that you defeated it and it's accepting you as it's master."

I nodded and pulled out the device Kohaku had given me. According to this, the Kirlia was a female.

Kokoa looked at the device curiously. "What's that?"

"A device that can tell a Pokemon's gender."

She nodded, suddenly uninterested. We turned back to Kirlia and smiled. Kirlia danced around happily, looking like a ballerina. I checked its data in the Pokedex.

_**Kirlia**_  
_Emotion Pokémon_

_It is highly perceptive of its Trainer's feelings. It dances when it is feeling happy. _

I smiled happily. Kirlia was such a beautiful and unique Pokemon. "I'll call you Kira!"

Kirlia smiled happily. "Kir! Kir! Lia!"

Now that I had a second Pokemon, I'd be able to register for the Oleshire Contest. Who knows what'll happen next. Now, it was time for Kokoa to help me practice...


	6. A Beautiful Display!

Chapter 6

Kokoa called out all three of her Pokémon. "Ok. I'm going to fist teach you about the appearance round."

I nodded, a notebook in hands. "Ok! I'm ready to learn!"

She smiled. Clearly enjoying the aspect of being my teacher. "Ok. For this first round, all you need to do is combine moves and make them as beautiful as possible."

I nodded again and jotted that down in my notebook. Kokoa snapped her fingers at me and glared.

"Oi! Pay attention. My Pokémon will demonstrate. Ginger and Ruru. Come up here!"

The two Pokémon came up and stood in front of their master. "I'll show you a performance from the first contest we won. Ready guys?"

Riolu and Ninetales nodded. Kokoa smiled happily. She was in her element.

"Ruru, jump up in the air!"

The Riolu obeyed, throwing itself up into the air.

"Now Ginger, use fire spin!"

Ninetales shot out the flames. The surrounded Riolu.

"Now Ruru, use forcepalm on the flames!"

Ruru's hand lit up slightly as it pounded apart the fire in a beautiful display. I was struck with wonder.

"Aura sphere now!" called out Kokoa, eyes burning with passion.

Riolu formed a large, blue ball in its hands and shot it at the sky.

Kokoa smiled. "Ginger, you know what to do! Flamethrower!"

Ginger shot its flames at the aura sphere, breaking it apart into a beautiful explosion of fire and aura. I laughed happily.

The two Pokémon landed gracefully. Kokoa and he Pokémon both took a bow. They sure were a polished team.

I clapped for them and I could see a slight blush on Kokoa's face. "What did you think?"

I was beaming. "It was amazing! You guys did that for one of your FIRST contests?"

Kokoa shrugged, seeming so shy all of a sudden. "Yeah. I don't know how I came up with it. I guess it came to me in a dream."

I smiled. "You're going to teach me how to do that?"

Kokoa laughed. "Well, this is something you'll have to do on your own. Just combine moves until you make something beautiful. Let your creativity flow!"

I smiled at her. "You're a pretty good teacher."

She laughed. "I try."

I turned to Amber and Kira, clenching my fists and giving of a determined aura. Kira danced around, sensing my happiness.

"Alright guys. Let's do this!"

"Kirlia!"

"Chic! Tor!"

I looked through the pokedex at Kirlia's moves. She seemed to know quite a bit. As I thought of her psychic, I remembered the way she'd used it in my fight.

She had taken control of Torchic and had thrown her to the ground. Could she control one of Torchic's MOVES?

I turned to Torchic and Kirlia. "I think I have a game plan!"

Torchic chirped happily and Kirlia nodded. I smiled back at them, planning something out in my head.

"Ok. First, Kira, I need you to toss Amber up in the air."

Torchic ran over to Kirlia and Kirlia threw her up in the air. I nodded, pleased by how perfect they'd played it out.

"Amber, use ember now!"

"Chic!" she shouted as she showered embers everywhere.

"Now Kira, control the embers with psychic."

Kira's eyes glowed as she used psychic and took control of the embers, spinning them around beautifully as Torchic danced through them. I hadn't planned this part, but they looked so cute. I should add this to the performance.

I turned over to see Kokoa. Notcing my gaze, she gave a thumbs up, her sign of approval. I smiled.

"Finish this off Kira! Break apart those embers!"

Kira did as instructed, using psychic to break apart the embers. They bursted like fireworks. Hues of purple and red danced through the sky. It had played out better than I'd imagined.

Ginger, Pilot, and Ruru danced with my Pokémon through the trail of lights. By the end of the performance, the fireworks looked more like an aurora that had been painted through the sky. Kokoa was impressed.

She gave me a pat on the back. "Great job. Maybe you'll turn out to be a worthy opponent."

I blushed. "I'm not sure if it was that good."

Kokoa smiled. "For a first performance, that's amazing. You have some skill, but I won't let you beat me."

I smiled back at her. "Maybe we'll battle when the next contest comes around."4

Kokoa nodded. "Yeah. Since I'm not competing in this one."

Once the "aurora" had finally faded, Kokoa spoke again.

"The only thing left to teach you is the art of battling. This is a bit tricky. Not only fo you have to be strong, but your moves must possess beauty as well. If your moves are beautiful, they'll subtract from the other coordinator's points."

I nodded. "Alright. I've seen that on tv before."

Kokoa frowned. 'This is nothing like tv. Battles are tough. If your Pokémon get knocked out, you'll lose. If all your points are gone, you lose. Finally, if your opponent has lost less points then you, you'll lose. You need to stay focused when you're in a battle."

I gulped. I guess I hadn't understood how intense the battles really were. It had looked so simple on all the tv broadcasts.

Kokoa was absolutely right. This wasn't like tv. I was going to have to work hard if I wanted to win.

Kokoa smiled again. "Most people don't win their first contests, but I'll make sure you do. Round up your Pokémon. Let's have a two on two coördination battle."

I nodded. "Amber! Kirlia! Come here!"

Kokoa called her Pokémon as well. "Pilot and Ruru! Prepare for battle!"

I realized something then. This was my first trainer battle. I took a deep breath, trying not to worry myself unnecessarily.

If I kept a cool head, I could win this. This was necessary if I wanted to win the Oleshire contest.

"Bring it on Kokoa!"


	7. First Battle: Win or Fail?

Chapter 7

"Ready to go Ichigo?" asked Kokoa, smiling confidently.

I smiled back. "Ready when you are."

She nodded. "Ruru, use force palm on Kirlia and Pilot, use scald on Amber!"

I growled. "Kira, stop Ruru with psychic and Amber, dodge!"  
While Amber was able to narrowly dodge, and with great grace, Kira wasn't able to counter fast enough. She was hit hard with Ruru's force palm, which shined beautifully. Kokoa's Pokémon really battle gorgeously.

Kokoa was disappointed that scald hadn't made its mark, but was happy that Kira had taken a hit. "Nice one Ichigo, but I'm gonna win!"

I shook my head. "No way! Kira, use hypnosis on Pilot and Amber, hit Ruru with peck!"

Kokoa frowned. "Pilot, get away! Ruru, try to block the attack!"

Pilot flew up to the skies, spiralling higher and higher, but not quick enough. Kira's hypnosis hit it, causing it to fall asleep. As Amber pecked at Ruru, she tried to block, barely taking any damage at all.

Kokoa hissed when she saw Pilot. "Ruru, protect Pilot and use aura sphere!"

Ruru formed a giant aura sphere in its paws and blasted it at Amber and Kira. The attack hit my Pokémon, bursting with incredible strength and beauty, but it didn't knock them out.

"Amber, use ember and Kira, use dream eater!"

Amber distracted Ruru with her ember attack while Kira used dream eater. By the time Kira was done, Pilot had fainted. Kira smiled victoriously and happily danced around.

Kokoa cursed under her breath. "Well, Pilot is still a new Pokemon. Good job."

She called it back into its pokeball and then she glared over at me. "You won't beat Ruru so easily. Aura sphere on more time!"

Ruru's aura sphere shone brightly as it struck us yet again. Kira and Amber jumped away, trying desperate;y to dodge, but to no avail.

Both of them took considerable damage, but to my surprise, were still capable of fighting.

I smiled happily. "You two are the best! Alright. Time for a move combo! Combine your shadow ball and ember attacks!"

Kira formed a large shadow ball and shot it out. Amber then combined its ember with it. They combined and made one huge, sparkling attack.

Kokoa narrowed her eyes. She knew the attack was powerful. "Riolu, use endure."

As the attack hit, Riolu used its move. I gasped when I saw it was still standing.

"How is it still up?"

Kokoa smiled. "Endure is a move that can help it stay up after an attack! Now Ruru, use shadow claw at full power!"

Ruru's paws darkened as a shadowy claw formed around it. He slashed at Kira and Amber. And then it was over...

Amber and Kira fainted as Riolu cheered, jumping up into Kokoa's arms as she spinned it around happily.

I went over and picked up Torchic and Kirlia. "You guys were great. I'm proud of you."

The Pokémon nodded a bit sadly, but they both sensed that I was just fine. Even though I'd lost, I had lost to a respectable opponent.

Kokoa looked over at me sympathetically. "Are you ok Ichigo?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm just fine."

She didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure? You just lost your first battle!"  
I nodded once more. "It's fine. There are more battles to come. If I get discouraged now, I'll never become a great coördinator."

Kokoa smiled. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

I blushed a bit. "Thanks. And also, thanks for a great battle."

She laughed. "My pleasure. But now that we're done fighting, we should get you registered for the contest!"

Kokoa grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind her. "Come on! Let's go to the contest hall!"

Once we arrived at the hall, we walked up to a young woman waiting and a large counter.

"May I help you?" she asked politely.

Kokoa nodded and pointed at me. "She's a rookie and needs a contest pass."

The woman nodded. "Alright. Can you hand me your pokedex?"

I fished through my bag and handed her my trusty pokedex. She stuck it in a slot, typing some keys on her computer, then she handed it back to me.

Along with my pokedex, she handed me a plastic hard with my I.D. "There's your pass! You use it to register for contests."

I handed it back to her. "I'd like to register for the upcoming contest!"

She nodded. "What Pokémon will you be using?"

I smiled. "Just my Torchic and Kirlia."

She entered in the information and handed my card back to me. "You came at the last minute. The contest is tomorrow. Good luck anyway."

I was confused, but Kokoa looked pissed. "Come on, Ichigo! You can stay the night at my house."

When we were out of the hall I looked over at her. "What's wrong?"

She hissed. "Did you not hear her?! She was being so rude to you. She doesn't think you're going to win. She was making fun of how you came at the last minute and she was clearly critiquing your Pokémon."

My chest felt heavy. "Oh..."

Kokoa's eyes softened. "I'm sorry. Don't mind her! You're going to win that contest because you've got the best teacher ever!"

I smiled and bowed. "Thank you for everything, Kokoa-sensei!"

She bowed back. "You have been a worthy student. Now don't fail me! Win that contest and show the people of Oleshire what you're made of!"

I smiled. "I will. I don't like losing."

Kokoa smiled and yawned. "Well, let's head back to my place. I'll give you a place to sleep and make some hot cocoa. Do you like marshmallows?"  
I smiled. "That sounds great. And yes, I love marshmallows."

Kokoa stopped in her tracks and grabbed something from her bag. "One more thing..."

I blinked. "What is it?"

She handed me something. "Ball capsules and seals. You put them on your pokeballs to make a better opening performance."

I smiled and nodded. "Ok. Thanks!"

She nodded. "You can keep them. Just pay me back by winning!"

I sighed. "You're pressuring me."

She smiled. "Let's just go and have some cocoa."

I smiled even brighter. Today had been a great day and tomorrow would be better. Maybe I HAD registered at the last minute, but I was prepared. I'd win that contest and earn my first ribbon of many. Just you wait...


	8. Contest Debut!

Chapter 8

Today was the day. My very first contest was at hand! But...I wasn't ready to wake up. I was having such a nice dream.

"Oi! Get up lazy!" Kokoa screamed, karate chopping me in the head.

I whined and groaned as she hit me. "Just five more minutes!"

Kokoa looked irritated. "No! Get up now! Do you want to be late for your first contest?"

I shot up out of bed. My first contest! It was finally time! I raced out of bed to gather my stuff.

Kokoa sighed. "You sure are hopeless. Now hurry up. We have fifteen minutes to get over there."

I nodded and collected the rest of my things. Then, I woke up my sleepy Torchic, saying, "Our first contest! Wake up!"

Amber shot up out of bed as I had. Kokoa sighed and pushed us out the door. There was no time to waste. We had to get to the contest hall.

Once we arrived, I showed the person at the counter my card and I was whisked away back stage and Kokoa went into the stands.

She mouthed, "Good luck." as I was dragged away. My heart was beating a million miles per hour. This was really happening! My first contest. I never expected to make an enemy so soon though.

As I explored backstage, I bumped into another competitor. She glowered at me when I bumped into her.

"Watch where you're going," she hissed. "Wannabe..."

I frowned. "Why don't YOU watch where YOU'RE going!"

She turned to me and gave me a disgusted look. "You're competing in this contest?"

I nodded. "Yup! And I'm going to win!"

The woman laughed. "That's where you're wrong because I'm going to win. My name s Rin and I've already gotten 4 ribbons."

"No way..."

She opened up her case and sure enough, there were 4 ribbons. She smirked at me.

"A wretch like you will never beat someone of my class."

I growled. "We'll see about that. I have a very good teacher."

She extended her hand. "May the BEST coordinator win."

I took her hand. "Yeah."

A man walked in. "Rin, you're up!"

Rin smiled at me. "Bye bye! Now watch as a star is born!"

I turned over to a small television positioned in the center of the room and watched as Rin ran on stage.

"Ivysaur and Buneary! Make me proud!"

I gasped as I watched their performance. Ivysaur's petals were frozen by Buneary's icebeam and then broken apart, sparkling brightly. It was a polished performance.

Just then, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw Kokoa standing behind me.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I've got backstage access."

I sighed and she looked at me strangely. "You don't like that Rin girl, do you?"

My eyes widened. "How did you know?"

She shrugged again. "I've battled her before. All you need to do is get her mad and she'll crack."

I considered it for a moment and nodded. Kokoa smiled at me.

"Hurry up and win this! There's a gym in the next town over I want to battle."

I was shocked. "You're a coordinator AND a trainer."

She nodded. "Yup!"

Before we could say anymore, the man walked back in. "Ichigo, it's your turn!"

I nodded and returned Torchic to its pokeball. It was time for our contest debut. I took a deep breath and walked down the hall.

I then entered onto the stage where I heard tons of people cheering. I felt a sudden rush of excitement as I threw up my pokeballs.

"Amber and Kira, it's your time to shine!"

Amber came out in a burst of flames and Kirlia appeared surrounded by hearts. The audience cheer as they landed in a cute pose.

"Alright you two, let's do this!" I called out.

The two performed exactly as we'd practiced and the crowd seemed decently impressed. We bowed as our performance ended.

When I went back stage again, Kokoa was gone, but Rin was there waiting for me. She glared at me.

"Don't get too happy yet. We still have to wait for the results."

I nodded and stared anxiously at the tv, waiting for the judges to tally our scores. Soon, they appeared on screen.

Rin's picture was one of the first to appear. I was holding my breath as I waited for mine. My picture showed up last. I'd made it.

I cheered and hugged my Pokemon tight. Out of all these people, we were one of the eight coordinators that got to move on. Now it was time for battle match ups.

Luckily, I wasn't paired with Rin. She glared at me.

"Let's battle in the last round."

I nodded. "You have my word."

Both of us battled to the best of our ability. I was surprised at how well my Pokémon performed. Before I knew it, the time had come and Rin and I were paired up in the finals.

Even though the crowd was loud, Kokoa was much louder as she screamed out at me.

"Ichigo, you better win dammit!"

I sweat dropped and faced Rin. She smiled from across the battle field. Then, the timer started. We had five minutes to decide on a winner.

We both called out our Pokémon and glared at each other. This would be a match to remember.

"Ivysaur, vinewhip and Buneary use dizzy punch!"

Ivysaur whipped Buneary into my Kirlia who took it hard. Then, Ivysaur whipped my poor Torchic. I growled as my points went down.

"Kira, lock those two in place with psychic and then Amber use your ember attack!"

Kira used her psychic, holding Rin's Pokémon in place. She cried out in anger as the Pokémon were shot with Ember, both taking a good amount of damage. Her points decreased.

Rin was angry. "How dare you do this to my Pokémon?! You're just a newby!"

I grunted. "Well this newby is going to take you out! Kira, toss them in the air!"

Kira tossed the two Pokemon high up in the air as instructed.

"Now Amber, peck!"

Amber pecked the Pokemon back down to the Earth. Rin shrieked in fury.

"Use an icebeam and razor leaf combo!"

Buneary froze over Ivysaur's razor leaf. The attack hit my Pokemon hard. And because of the moves great beauty, my points really dropped.

"Let's make this our last move guys! We don't have much time!"

Rin noticed the time limit as well. "Let's end this!"

"Psychic ember!" I called out.

"Poison powder and dizzy punch!" commanded Rin.

Ivysaur's poison powder was sprinkled upon Buneary's dizzy punch as they flew at us. Amber's ember was controlled by Kira's psychic as we struck at them. Both attacks collided, exploding with colors. That's when the time limit was up.

Rin and I looked up at the score board as the MC declared the results. "Ichigo Hatake wins by a hair!"

They were right! My points were barely more than Rin's. I'd won by a little bit. I cheered and ran over to hug my Pokemon. Rin left the field without a word. I heard Kokoa calling from the stands.

"Damn straight, Ichigo!"

One of the contest judges walked over to me with a ribbon. It was in a heart shape with a small red jewel in its center. The ribboning around it was puffy and light pink with red stripes.

"Congratulations! You've won the Oleshire contest!"

And won it I had. As I held the ribbon close to my heart, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I just didn't know what would happen later on that day...


	9. Kokoa and Ichigo Vs Millennium!

Chapter 9

I smiled brightly, admiring my ribbon. Kokoa stared at me like I was the biggest dork in the world. I smiled and put my ribbon away. Kokoa had something to say.

"Hey Ichigo? What are you going to do now?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess I'll compete in contests until I have five ribbons."

She nodded. "Well...do you ant to travel alone?"

I thought about it for a second. "To be honest, no. I'm a huge scaredy cat and I'd rather travel with someone. Why?"

Kokoa smiled. "I want to travel with you!"

I was a bit shocked. "You like me that much?"

She laughed. "Well, isn't it more fun to travel in pairs? I know we'll be contest rivals, but we can still get along and travel together can't we?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Let's travel together!"

Kokoa smiled brightly. "Ok! Our first stop will be at the gym in the next town over!"

I nodded then thought of something. "I wonder..."

Kokoa looked puzzled. "What?"

I smiled awkwardly. "My friends are all trainers so I thought they might be over there."

Kokoa nodded. "Maybe. I'll kick their asses in the Petilla League though!"

I rolled my eyes. "Let's just pack up and get going."

Kira, Amber, and Ginger, who were all out of their pokeballs nodded. Kokoa sighed and calmed herself down.

"Ok. Let's pack up!"

It didn't take long to pack. We grabbed a map, some food for us, and some Pokémon food and we were all set to go. To get to the next place, Verdean City, we'd have to take Route 14.

Kokoa strapped on her backpack and got a determined look on her face. Route 14 was a long one, but she was raring to go. I wonder where she got all that energy from.

"Forward march!" she shouted, Ginger straightened up. "Off to the Verdean gym!"

I laughed as I trailed behind her, snacking on a brownie. I gave my two Pokémon some poffins to eat.

We barely got out of the town's view when trouble began to brew. I saw two people standing in the road wearing familiar uniforms. Three robots hovered next to them. Team Millennium grunts.

Kokoa grunted when she saw them. Had she encountered this terrible team too? I stiffened as they turned to me.

"You're the team that attacked me at the lab!"

The girl and boy grunts eyes glowed with recognition. Kokoa looked at me in surprise.

"You know them?"

I nodded. "My Pokémon and I almost died after they attacked."

Kokoa's eyes narrowed as she hissed at these people. "What do you want?!"

The boy answered. "Just let us take care of your Pokémon and you can be on your way."

Kokoa laughed. "You aren't going to lay a finger on my Pokémon!"

I snarled at them. "Mine either!"

The girl sighed and pressed a button, starting up the robots. "Then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way!"

The robots flew over at us, going for the three of our Pokémon. Ginger blasted its flames at them and Torchic did the same. Seeing that the flames at no effect, Kira flung them back with psychic.

The boy laughed. "These robots can adapt to anything!"

When the robots struck again, Kira tried to once again push them back with psychic, but it wasn't effective. I knew what he meant when he said they adapted to anything.

I heard Kokoa curse as the robots lashed out at our Pokémon. I growled in anger. I wouldn't let them hurt our Pokémon!

Kokoa and I hurled ourselves at the robots, pushing them back from our Pokémon. It was all we could do.

Kokoa grabbed her robot and smashed it into mine, breaking them both. There was one robot to go.

The last robot took hold of all three of our Pokémon, clenching them in a death grip. I gasped in horror as I heard the Pokémon cry out in pain.

Kokoa wasn't happy either. I could see that she was holding back tears as her Ginger screamed out.

Kokoa turned over to me. "We need to get the remote from that girl grunt!"

I looked over at her. She held the remote in her hands, pressing buttons and causing the robot to tighten its grip. I growled as our Pokémon began to cry again.

Kokoa and I charged over at the two grunts. Kokoa tackled the boy, pinning him down so that he wouldn't be able to help his comrade.

I plowed straight into the girl, wrestling her for the remote. As I struggled, I slowly managed to pry it out of her hands. I threw the remote to the ground, busting it and causing the robot to release our Pokémon.

Just when we thought we'd one, more grunts arrived, lots of other robots following behind them. At this rate, Kokoa and I would lose the fight.

Just then, as if on cue, a certain blond haired, lone wolf appeared. A Pidgeot and Treecko following behind him. Akako!

"Akako!" I shouted.

Kokoa was confused. "Friend or foe?"

I smiled. "He's a friend. He's saved me from Team Millennium once before."

Kokoa nodded, staring up at Akako. He stared back coldly. "You have a knack for getting in trouble don't you?"

I scowled at him. "Shut up!"

He sighed and looked over to Treecko and Pidgeot. "Take out these robots!"

The grunts laughed. "Pokémon attacks aren't going to work!"

Akako smiled. "Oh really? What if five Pokémon were to direct their attacks all at once?"

Just then, his two Pokémon attacked, our Pokémon following in their footsteps. The combined attacks were too much for the robots to take. They exploded, metal scraps falling everywhere.

Kokoa smiled in victory and walked over to some grunts, cracking her knuckles. "I'm gonna make you pay for crossing me!"

Just as she was about to punch someone, Akako grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she hissed.

Akako stared at her coldly. "The fight is over. You don't need to drag this out any longer."

Kokoa growled. "Whose side are you on?!"

Akako answered quickly and rudely. "I'm on no one's side but my own."

"Wha?"

Before we could thank him or fight with him, Akako and his Treecko hopped on Pidgeot and flew off.

Kokoa shook with anger. "Who is that bastard, Ichigo?!"

I laughed awkwardly. "I told you. His name is Akako."

She shrieked in anger. "That idiot. Aka-baka! I don't like his attitude."

I smiled. "I don't know. I think he's nice under that shell."

Kokoa disagreed. "As if! Come on, Ichigo! Let's just get back on track and head to Verdean."

I nodded and started walking again. Aka-baka had she called him? I had a feeling that name would stick. I didn't completely agree with Kokoa though.

I agree that Akako has an attitude and he's pretty mysterious, but I think there's a reason behind it.

All I know is, he's saved me twice now. I should repay him somehow. But I won't think of that now. I'll set my sights on Verdean! Who knows. Maybe I'll meet up with some old friends...


	10. Old and New Friends!

Chapter 10

I could've cried tears of joy when we finally arrived in Verdean. Route 14 wasn't exactly the shortest path. In fact, it was probably one of the longest paths I've ever walked on.

Kokoa didn't look the least bit tired though. She stretched and smiled cheerfully when we made it to Verdean.

Kokoa smiled at me. "We're finally here! Let's go to the gym!"

I moaned and fell down. "I can't go on. Kokoa, can you carry me the rest of the way?"

She kicked me. "No way! Get up!"

I groaned. "Can't we stop and eat somewhere before running off to the gym?"

Kokoa didn't seem to want to, but then I heard her stomach growl. I smiled evilly and she sighed in defeat.

She rolled her eyes at me. "I guess we can stop to eat. Come on! There's supposed to be a café around here."

Kokoa grabbed me by the collar and dragged me behind her. I left skid marks in the dirt as she pulled me along. It took around five minutes before we found the café.

I smiled happily as the sweet aroma of sweets entered my nose. My only weakness was my sweet tooth. There was no controlling my cravings for chocolate.

Kokoa and I waltzed in happily and just as I was about to start buying everything in sight, I noticed some familiar faces. Kohaku and Miku were sitting at a table nearby.

They smiled when they saw me. Kokoa looked over at them questioningly.

"Do you know those people?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I met them at the lab. Kokoa, meet Kohaku and Miku."

They both waved and Kokoa waved back.

I smiled happily. "What are you guys doing here?"

The took out their badge cases and showed me something. They each had a weird looking twisty green badge.

"You guys won at the gym?"

Miku nodded. "Yeah! It was pretty hard, but on the bright side of things, my Squirtle is close to evolving!"

Kohaku nodded. "Snivy is about there as well."

Kokoa decided to talk with them. "What type of gym is this?"

Kohaku smiled. "It's a grass gym. Fire Pokémon will get you an easy win."

I nodded and thought of something. "Have you guys caught any new Pokémon? I just got a Kirlia!"

On cue, Kirlia came out and happily danced around. Kohaku and Miku smiled, then grabbed their own pokeballs.

Miku called out her Pokémon first. She had one new one. It was an adorable and very perky Pidove.

Miku patted the pidove and I smiled. Kohaku threw up two pokeballs.

Kohaku caught two Pokémon. One was a strong looking Mankey. The other one was a small, but fierce Slugma.

Kokoa looked at them skeptically. I looked over at her in concern.

"Is something wrong?"

Kokoa sighed. "I don't have any badges yet, but they do."

I laughed. "Don't worry. You'll get one soon."

Miku smiled at me. "Have you won any ribbons yet, Ichigo?"

I nodded. I grabbed my ribbon case and opened it up.

"I won a contest back in Oleshire."

Kohaku and Miku nodded. Kokoa took out her own ribbon case.

"And I've earned two ribbons so far."

Kohaku and Miku looked interested, but Miku said, "Sorry guys. We have to get going. We're heading up to the next gym in Meisa. See you later!"

Kohaku smiled at me as he walked away. "Keep up the good work Ichigo!"

I smiled and nodded, waving good-bye. Once they were gone, Kokoa nudged me, an evil look on her face.

She chuckled. "I think Kohaku has a crush on you."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. We barely know each other."

Just as I was about to order some food, I noticed a crowd of girls screaming in the back of the room, surrounding someone.

Kokoa looked curious. "I wonder who those girls are crowding around."

We both walked over, deciding to investigate. Kokoa pushed back the girls to see what they were freaking out about.

It was a guy. He had jet black hair and was wearing a t-shirt and jacket. He wore jeans and matching tennis shoes. His eyes were an ocean blue.

Kokoa snorted. "All these girls are gathering around some random guy?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he's a famous trainer?"

Kokoa pushed her way over to the guy, slamming her fist down on the table he was sitting at.

"Hey you! What's up with these fangirls?"

He shrugged. "They just follow me where ever I go."

Kokoa huffed. "Are you a trainer?"

The guy nodded and took out a black badge case. Inside were two badges. The badge from the Verdean gym and an unfamiliar one.

Kokoa didn't seem too impressed. Actually, she seemed angry that he was getting so much hype.

She snorted in disgust. "Since you seem like such a popular trainer, I challenge you to a battle!"

The guy seemed interested. "How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Three," answered Kokoa.

The boy nodded. "Perfect. My name is Takuya and my goal is winning the Petilla League."

Kokoa laughed. "I'm Kokoa and I have the same goal. Let's take this outside."

Takuya nodded then pointed at me. "Is she your friend?"

I nodded. "I'm her friend, Ichigo."

Takuya nodded at me. "You'll be the referee."

"Ok," I responded, following Kokoa, Takuya, and the fangirls out to a battle field out back.

Takuya and Kokoa glared at each other across the field. I felt so awkward standing in between their scowls.

I tried to remember everything I'd heard referees say on tv. "This will be a three on three battle that will be over when all the Pokemon on one side are able to battle. You can switch out, but may not use any healing items. Begin!"

I held my breath as Kokoa called out her first Pokemon, Ruru. Takuya called out a Pokemon of his own, a Pawniard. This would be a good match.


	11. A Collide of Great Trainers!

Chapter 11

Kokoa smiled as she stared over at his Pawniard. "I'll make this a quick match!"

Takuya laughed, a look of superiority on his face. "You took the words right out of my mouth!"

Kokoa growled at him and looked over at Ruru. "Hit them hard with an aura sphere!"

Takuya was prepared to counter. "Use metal claw!"

Pawniard's metal claw cut right through the aura sphere. Pawniard then hit Riolu hard, not showing any mercy.

Kokoa clenched her fists in anger and Takuya remained cool and level headed. Takuya seemed like he knew what he was doing. The calm look on his face seemed to piss off Kokoa even more.

"Ruru, use forceplam now!"

The Riolu charged at Pawniard and hit it with force palm. It didn't look like it did too much to Pawniard.

Takuya smirked. "Finish it off with iron head!"

Pawniard's head glowed with a metallic color as it charged into Riolu, doing a vast amount of damage. Riolu had fainted.

"Riolu is unable to battle!" I called out. "Pawniard is the winner!"

Kokoa sighed angrily and called Ruru back into her pokeball. Ginger, who was standing beside Kokoa, whined. Kokoa nodded.

"Let's see if you can beat Ginger! She's the best I've got!"

Ginger growled at both Takuya and Pawniard as it pranced onto the battle field. Takuya's smirk widened.

"If that's the best one you've got, I'd love to see the look on your face when you see it's no match against me."

Kokoa snarled. "Ginger, use fire spin now!"

Ginger shot a large amount of spiralling flames at Pawniard. The Pokémon tried to dodge, but wasn't quick enough. The flames smacked it into the ground.

Takuya frowned. "Pawniard, get up and use night slash!"

Kokoa laughed. "Oh no you don't! Ginger, wrap this up with flamethrower!"

Before Pawniard could move, Ginger shot a line of flames at Pawniard. By the time it was done with, Pawniard had fainted.

"Pawniard is unable to battle! The winner is Ginger!"

Takuya smiled. "Not bad, but just wait until you see my next Pokémon. Go Axew! Use dragon rage!"

"Ginger, counter with flamethrower!"

The two moves hit each other with full force, blowing each other up and injuring the Pokémon on each side. Takuya and Kokoa growled at each other.

Takuya made a move. "Axew, use outrage!"

Axew looked furious as it blasted out its attack at Ginger. Ginger tried to dodge, but was grazed with the attack. The fox Pokémon growled in anger.

"Ginger, fire blast now!"

Takuya smiled. "Counter! Use outrage once more!"

As the attacks collided, a huge ball of smoke formed, covering the field. When the smoke cleared, one Pokémon was down.

"Axew is unable to battle! The winner is Ginger!"

Takuya smiled arrogantly. How could he still seem so confident with only one Pokémon left?

"Now introducing my partner and strongest Pokémon, Luxray!"

A strong looking lion like Pokémon debuted on the battle field. It growled at Ginger and Ginger growled back.

Takuya smiled. "That Ninetales is weak, use thunder fang!"

Luxray's fangs lit up with electricity as it bit down on Ginger's throat, holding her down and draining her HP.

Kokoa growled in frustration. "Come on, Ginger! Break free of its grip!"

Ginger struggled and fought the best it could, but Luxray's grip was too tight. Ginger stopped struggling as it fainted.

"Ginger is unable to battle! Luxray is the winner."

I could tell that Kokoa was losing confidence. Her last Pokemon was Ducklett, a water type which was weak against electric types like Luxray.

Kokoa growled. "Pilot, use scald!"

Takuya smiled. "Luxray, use thunder bolt!"

Luxray easily avoided the scald and started to glow with electricity. It then shot it at poor Ducklett. Pilot called out, taking a huge amount of damage from the thunder bolt. It refused to give up though.

It got up, smiling over at Kokoa. It was a new Pokemon, but it didn't want to let its master down. Kokoa smiled at it.

"Ok Pilot, use steel wing!"

Pilot's wings lit up with a steel color as it charged at Luxray head on. Takuya had a plan though.

"Luxray, use thunder fang on more time!"

Luxray jumped up and dug its fangs into Pilot's wings the poor bird Pokemon cried as the electricity shocked it. Pilot fell from the sky, fainted.

I gasped. "...Pilot is unable to battle. Luxray wins, meaning Takuya is the victor."

Takuya smiled victoriously and called Luxray back over to him. It appears that Luxray's an out of pokeball Pokémon.

Kokoa picked up a dejected Ducklett and hugged it. "You did your best. Thank you."

She then called it back into its pokeball. She sighed and glared over at Takuya.

"You got lucky this time!"

Takuya shrugged. 'I have to admit, you gave me a run for my money."

Kokoa crossed her arms. "Whatever. Come on, Ichigo. Let's go to the gym."

Takuya ran over to us. "Wait. Do you guys mind if I travel with you?"

Kokoa glowered at Takuya. "You defeat me in a Pokémon battle then ask to travel with us?"

Takuya shrugged. "You're like a fangirl repellant. If I stick with you, they won't crowd me as much."

Kokoa sighed but I smiled. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to travel with us!"

Takuya nodded. "So you guys are heading to the gym?"

Kokoa perked up a bit. "Yup! And you can bet that I'll win it!"

Takuya nodded. "Of course you will. It's the easiest gym in Petilla."

Kokoa snarled at him. "Shut up and get moving! I'd like to battle the gym TODAY!"

I couldn't help but smile as they bickered. It looked like they hated each other, but I could tell they respected each other as trainers. I smiled even more as we arrived at the gym. After we were done here, I knew I could enter more contests. And now, we had a new travelling buddy. This was turning out to be a great journey...


	12. An Unwanted Visitor!

Chapter 12

As we entered the gym, an aroma of pine needles entered my nose. The gym was just a field of grass and lots of trees.

I noticed the gym leader right away. She had short, straight brown hair and wore a green head band. She had a flowery green tank top and wore white pants and sandals. I smile was plastered on her face. According to the plaque outside the gym, her name was Autumn.

Autumn smiled when she saw Takuya. "You beat me already. What are you doing back here?"

Takuya laughed and gestured to Kokoa. "This girl wants to battle you."

Autumn nodded. "It's my duty to accept all challenges. Is a two on two battle ok with you?"

Kokoa nodded. "Let's do this!"

Both of them positioned themselves on opposite sides of the field, clutching their pokeballs tight. The battle began as soon as the ref. shouted, "Go!"

Kokoa called out Ginger and Autumn threw out Chespin. Kokoa smiled, confident that she'd win.

"Ginger, use flamethrower now!"

Ginger's flames shot relentlessly at Chespin, taking down its HP by over a third. Chespin whined, knowing it was close to defeat already.

Autumn snarled. "Chespin, use take down!"

Kokoa smiled triumphantly. Her next move was sure to finish this. "Ginger, use fire spin!"

Ginger jumped above Chespin, then shot it with fire spin. Chespin fainted within moments.

Autumn sighed and called it back into its pokeball. "Ok! Let's go Tangrowth! Use ancient power!"

Tangrowth summoned up all its power and shot it all at Ninetales. Even though it hit, Ginger still had a ton of HP. This match was over.

"Finish this with fire blast!" Kokoa called out.

Ginger shot out more flames at Tangrowth, hitting it hard and taking it out right away. Kokoa had won her first gym battle.

Autumn sighed in defeat and handed Kokoa a badge. "Looks like you won. Here's the vine badge."

Kokoa took it happily and stuck it in her case. She look so excited to have one her first battle. Takuya looked at her funny.

"You don't have to get so excited over a badge."

Kokoa elbowed him in the side. "Shut up! It isn't wrong to be happy."

I laughed awkwardly and looked over at Autumn. "Are there any contests coming up nearby?"

Autumn nodded. "In the next town over, Riko City, there should be a contests."

Kokoa's eyes lit up. "I want to compete in that!"

I nodded. "It'll be out first contests as rivals!"

Kokoa smiled. "I'm going to beat you though."

I laughed. "In your dreams!"

Takuya pushed us both out the door. "Have a nice day, Autumn!"

Autumn blushed at Takuya. "Take care!"

Kokoa snorted, looking disgusted. "Why do all women find you so attractive?"

Takuya shrugged. "At least they don't flirt as much with you around.

Kokoa scowled then turned to me. "Hey Ichigo! Takuya and I are going to get a map of Riko. Wait here for us, ok?"

I nodded and saluted. "Affirmative!"

Takuya sweat dropped and Kokoa saluted back. "Alright soldier! Your general will return soon!"

I waved as they disappeared from sight. It was then that I noticed Torchic shaking in fear.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, squatting down to meet her.

Just then, someone emerged from the bushes. An unexpected visitor. None other than Team Millenium's Ishi.

Ishi smiled at me, flipping his jet black hair. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

I immediately scooped up Torchic, holding her close and glaring at Ishi. He sighed and raised up his arms.

"I'm not here to fight. I just want to make you an offer."

I looked over at him questioningly. "What...?"

Ishi looked out me expressionlessly. "If you turn in Kokoa to us, we'll leave you and your Pokémon alone. You'll be the only one to own Pokémon."

I grunted. "And if I refuse?"

Ishi smiled. "Well then, we'll take out your Pokémon. You're pretty hot, but I have a job to do."

I slapped him across the face, surprised by myself. "Pig! What do you even want with Kokoa?!"

Ishi laughed and rubbed his cheek. "You sure have one hell of an arm..."

"Answer me! What do you want with Kokoa?!"

Ishi smirked and grabbed my chin. "I'll tell you in exchange for a kiss."

I pushed him away from me, narrowing my eyes at him. He looked a bit shaken, but still smirked over at me.

He sighed. "Sorry then. Guess I won't tell you."

I scowled at him and he sighed again.

"See you later babe! Don't be mad at me if someone gets hurt. It was you choice not to coöperate."

I hissed at him. "Get out of my sight!"

He whistled. "Watch that temper. Hehe. If only you worked for Team Millennium."

Before I could say anything else, he ran off into the forest he came from. It was then that Takuya and Kokoa returned.

Kokoa smiled. "We've got a map! Come on! Let's get moving!"

I smiled back and nodded. "Off to the Wizard of OZ!"

Kokoa laughed. "To Narnia!"

Takuya sighed. "I'm only here so Kokoa can repel my fangirls..."

I happily marched with them to the next town through Route 17. Despite all that Ishi had said, I didn't want to bring it up right now. I didn't want to alarm Kokoa. I was pretty curious though. What did Kokoa have to do with Team Millennium?

* * *

I have a question for you! How are Kokoa and Tam Millennium related? Leave your answer in a review! Besides that, I have nothing to say. Happy Veteran's day! Bye!

-IchigoHatake


	13. A Little Spying!

Chapter 13

I smiled as we arrived in Riko city. It was so cool! The buildings looked like mini skyscrapers and lots of restaurants lined the streets. It looked so classy! Girls drooled over Takuya as we arrived.

Takuya pushed Kokoa out in front of him, repelling most of the girls. I giggled awkwardly.

Takuya perked up a bit. "Oh yeah. Riko city not only has contests, but it has a gym."

Kokoa looked interested. "Did you beat it?"

Takuya nodded. "It's a water gym."

Kokoa's eye lit up. "Alright! I can win the contest and a badge!"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I won't let you beat me."

Kokoa smiled confidently. "Please! I've got this contest in the bag!"

Takuya sighed. "Are you going to battle at the gym or not?"

Kokoa nodded. "Yeah! Let's go! I'm gonna win it!"

Takuya and Kokoa looked over at me when I didn't follow them. Kokoa looked confused.

"Are you going to watch my battle?"

I shook my head. "I want to check out the town's library. They should have lots of books on contests and stuff. And lots of other books to read!"

Kokoa smiled. "You're one of those book wormy people aren't you?"

I nodded and smiled. "I love books!"

Kokoa sighed. "Alright. We'll meet up with you at the library in half an hour. Wait for us on the first floor."

I nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck! You better win that gym battle!"

Kokoa smiled confidently. "Of course. I won't return without the badge!"

I waved until they were both out of sight. Then, I scampered off to the library. It was huge and had long, decorative columns. Just as I was about to walk in, a familiar face walked out.

She walked out, holding a book on Pokémon anatomy. It was one of the scientists for Team Millennium. Kohaku's sister, Tsubaki. I decided to follow her in case I could hear anything about their plans on taking Kokoa.

Tsubaki walked into a narrow alleyway where someone waited at the other end. It was Team Millennium's boss, Akuma. I hid behind a dumpster and peeked out at them.

Akuma growled, looking irritated. "You haven't seen her?!"

Tsubaki nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't know where she went. Kokoa definitely came into town. It's just hard to find her because of how crowded it is."

Akuma looked displeased. "Is there any sign of her friends? Didn't she befriend that one girl from the lab we attacked?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Her name is Ichigo Hatake. Both her and Kokoa compete in contests. They're friends and rivals."

Akuma thought for a moment. "Could you track her?"

Tsubaki shook her head. "Not me. I have too much work. Ishi seems to have taken an interest in her though."

Akuma sighed. "Have him sent after her then. I want Kokoa brought to me."

Tsubaki saluted. "Yes sir."

As Tsubaki turned to exit the alley, I ran off, not wanting them to catch me spying. I rushed into a crowd of people and quickly blened in. I was safe.

I went back to the library and waited at the steps until Takuya and Kokoa arrived. Kokoa yipped happily, waving her badge around. And to think she'd made fun of me when I was admiring my ribbon.

Kokoa smiled and waved when she saw me. "Oi! Ichigo! See this badge?! I WON!"

I smiled sadly. I needed to tell them about Team Millennium. If Kokoa was in danger and if we were being tracked, I shouldn't keep it a secret.

Takuya seemed to notice that I had something to say. "What's wrong, Ichigo?"

I gulped. "You remember Team Millennium?"

Takuya and Kokoa both nodded. (We'd told Takuya all about them and their evil intentions)

I sighed. "Well, they're after you Kokoa. Do you know why?"

I flash of recognition flared in Kokoa's eyes, but only for a second. She shook her head.

"I'm not what they'd want from me."

I sighed. "They're supposedly tracking us, so we'd better be careful."

Everyone nodded. I hugged Torchic tight. No one would take my Pokémon from me. I shouldn't worry too much though. It would be a bad idea to attack us in a big city like this. I should focus my efforts on the upcoming contest. I'd have to face Kokoa after all and she would be no easy opponent.

It didn't matter what Team Millennium wanted with her anyway, because Takuya and I would protect her. No matter what...

* * *

I know a short chapter. To make up for it, here are some short outs to reviewers!

Kokoa: Thank you Rurupuppy2854. My character is based off of you!

Takuya: Mine too.

Ichigo: I'd also like that thank HoAMR for all your reviews.

Takuya: He ships Kokoa and I as a couple...

Miku: He also ships Kohaku and I

Ichigo: *blushes* He supports Akako and I as well. I should create some shipping names...

Kohaku: Thanks to Dawn Guardian as well for reviewing each chapter!

Ichigo: Thanks to Mundie the Trainer, who might put my OC in his story!

Akako: Do I have to thank someone?

All: YES!

Akako: *sighs* Also thanks to Pokegirl185 for her reviews.

Ishi: Thanks for your review Sega Nesquik! Maybe you could join Team Millennium?

Tsubaki: Thanks to Skitty13 for her reviews as well. And for putting some OCs in her story.

Akuma: AND THANKS TO ALL THE OTHERS WHO REVIEWED!

Ichigo: *glares* No one invited YOU Akuma...Well, thank you everyone!

-IchigoHatake


	14. Contest loss?

Chapter 14

Kokoa and I both waited patiently backstage until it was our turn to perform. It was the day of the contests and both of us were determined to win.

As out turns came up, we both flew by the preliminaries, Amber and Kira winning with ease as well as Kokoa and Ginger and Ruru.

Soon, it was time to battle. We both glared at Takuya, who refused to cheer for us as we competed. Before I knew it, I was hurled into a battle against Kokoa. The winner would take home the Riko ribbon.

Kokoa smiled at me evilly. "I won't show any mercy just because we're friends."

I smiled. "I wouldn't want you to. Let's make this a great match!"

As Kokoa nodded, the five minute count down began. She quickly called out Ruru and Pilot, who came out in a shower of glitter.

"Go Amber and Kira!" I called out. Both Pokémon came out in colorful puffs of smoke.

I decided to take this opportunity to make the first move. "Torchic, tackle Riolu and Kira, toss Ducklett around with psychic!"

Amber plowed into Riolu, but the Pokémon soon pushed the fire chick away. Kira tossed Ducklett around for a while, but it soon broke free of her grasp. Kokoa was definitely an experienced coördinator.

Kokoa smiled. "Ducklett, use watergun on Torchic! And Ruru, use aura sphere on Kirlia!"

I growled. "Amber dodge! Kira, try to hold back the aura sphere with your psychic!"

Amber tried to dodge, but was hit with a good amount of water. Kira was fortunately able to break the aura sphere before it could hit. Both of our points went down.

Kokoa frowned a bit. I was ahead of her by a few points. "Pilot and Ruru! Combine water gun and force palm!"

Ruru's palms lit up, surrounded by Pilot's water. It looked so cool! Ruru struck both of my Pokémon with it, doing a large amount of damage to Amber.

I hissed. "Kira! Amber!Combine psywave and ember!"

Kirlia shot out rainbow colored waves, surrounding by Torchic's shimmering embers. It was gorgeous!

It struck Ducklett hard, but only grazed Riolu. I looked up at the points. Eve though I'd made such a decent combo, Kokoa was a bit ahead. I never expected her to end things so quickly.

Kokoa smirked. "Ok guys! Let's wrap this up! Pilot, use scald and Ruru, come at them with brick break!"

Pilot used scald on Torchic, causing her to faint almost instantly. Ruru then pounded Kira repeatedly with brick break until she was also done. A buzzer beeped, signalling the battle was over.

"And Kokoa is the winner! Congrats!"

I clenched my fist, body shaking. I called Kirlia back into her Pokémon before it could sense my emotions. I then turned to Torchic and picked her up. I walked off the battle field dejectedly.

Against my will, I started to cry. I wasn't a little kid. I was 16 dammit! Why'd I have to go and cry? I'd always been a cry baby.

I felt everyone stare at me backstage as I walked in crying. I ignored them and stepped out into the contest hall.

I heard Takuya and Kokoa calling for me, but I didn't turn to meet them. Instead, I ran off, still crying. I heard someone running after me.

Kokoa grabbed my wrists, slowing me to a stop. I couldn't look at her. I was still a sobbing mess. She spun me around, forcing me to look at her.

She sighed. "This is your first time losing a contests...I guess I forgot you'd never lost before."

I sniffed. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't cry over it..."

Kokoa shook her head. "No. This is normal. Even I cried a little when I lost for the first time. It's really hard to lose."

I nodded, still crying. "What do I do now?"

Kokoa smiled. "You pick yourself back up and win the next contest! I here there's one coming up in the next town, so you're in luck. And do you wanna know the best part?"

I wiped my tears. "What?"

"It's gonna be a special contest called a Twin contest. It's wear two coordinators battle against two other coordinators. It makes it so that two people can win. Each coördinator can choose one Pokémon to use. It's a bit hard though because you have to get along well together."

I then thought of something. "We could unite Kira and Ruru! Ruru can sense aura and Kirlia feels emotions. They'd make a great combo!"

Kokoa laughed. "So you want to enter it with me!"

I nodded vigorously. "Hell yeah! Sign me up!"

Kokoa laughed again. "Looks like you're alright. You aren't crying anymore."

I smiled. "You're right. There will be other contests. Just get ready to win the next one with me!"

Kokoa smiled sweetly. "It'll be in Ceila Village. It takes about a day to get there. Are you ready for this?"

I nodded. "We just need to work on a few contest moves together!"

Kokoa clenched her fists. "Yeah! We'll beat anyway who stands in our way!"

I then heard someone cry for help. It was Takuya. When we turned around, we found him surrounding by a mob of girls. They were literally trying to rip his clothes off. Kokoa growled.

She walked over there and punched one of the girls right in the face, giving her a bloody nose. "Oi! If you want to live, then back away from the guy! Don't think I'll hesitate to beat you all to a bloody pulp!"

The girls immediately receded, allowing Takuya to once again have his personal space. He sighed in relief.

"Never leave me alone again. These girls are crazy."

Kokoa rolled her eyes. "You should be able to get them away yourself."

Takuya shrugged and I smiled. Takuya and Kokoa looked kind of cute together. Sure they argued a lot, but I thought they could become a couple.

Kokoa turned over to me. "Hey Ichigo! Are you coming? We're heading to Ceila right away."

I nodded and ran over to them. "Ok! Let's go!"

Takuya looked at me funny. "Is something wrong? You were staring and Kokoa and me weird."

I snickered. "Oh. It's nothing. Let's just go to Ceila now!"

They both eyed me suspiciously, but I ignored them and marched over to Route 20. A new form of contest awaited me in Ceila and I was determined to win. With Kokoa by my side, I couldn't go wrong.

The only thing I was worried about was Team Millennium. I didn't know when they'd strike again. I didn't know what they planned to do with Kokoa. All I knew was that if they arrived, there would be trouble. I just hoped they didn't show up too soon. Especially not that Ishi jerk...


	15. Twin Contest!

Chapter 15

We had all arrived in Ceila Village far sooner than we had expected. Kokoa and I had a lot of free time to practice with Kira and Ruru. Before we knew it, it was time for our first twin contest.

I hyperventilated backstage. "I hope win. What if we don't?! What if-"

Kokoa cut me off. "Stop being so negative. Just breathe. If we keep calm and stay in sync, we'll win for sure!"

I nodded. "You always know just what to say, Kokoa."

She winked at me. "It's one of my many talents."

Just then, a man gestured at us. "Ichigo and Kokoa, you're up!"

Kokoa squealed happily. "It's time to win my 4th ribbon!"

I sighed. "I don't even have two yet..."

Kokoa and I smiled brightly as we walked on stage. This was exciting! Instead of being Kokoa's rival, I was her partner.

"Ruru, on stage!" Kokoa shouted with confidence.

I took a deep breath. "Kira, it's your time to shine!"

Ruru and Kira landed cutely together, winking at the audience. They worked well together as I'd predicted.

"Ruru, aura sphere!"

As the aura sphere shot from Riolu's paws, it was our cue to make a move.

"Kira, psychic!"

Kira stopped the ball, using psychic. It was Kokoa's turn again.

"Forcepalm!"

Ruru jumped up, attacking the aura sphere with its move. It burst apart, glitter showering down like rain.

As Ruru landed, it danced with Kirlia a beautiful ballet. The audience was captured by out performance. Even Takuya clapped for us.

As you may have predicted, we breezed through the preliminary round and soon battled. We won each fight. Soon enough, it came to the final match.

We were paired against two twins with blue and purple streaked hair. Their names were Denice and Jake.

"Eevee and Eevee!" they both called out.

"Go Ruru and Kira!" we called out.

The twins took the opportunity to make the first move. "Double shadow ball!"

The two Eevees each shot a shadow ball at us. Our Pokémon were smart though and managed to dodge or block it.

Kokoa smiled at me. "Ruru, forcepalm!"

Time for a combo. "Kira, psychic!"

Kira picked up Ruru with psychic and threw her at the Eevees, causing her move to do double the damage. Denice and Jake's points went down.

"Eevee and Eevee, use a twin dig!"

The two Eevees dug underground. Kokoa scoffed and turned to Ruru.

"Where are they at?"

Ruru pointed to a spot a few feet ahead. It was a good thing Riolu could sense auras.

"Ruru, use aura sphere!"

"Kira, use psywave!"

Psywave and aura sphere combined into a rainbow sphere that broke apart the ground and struck the Eevees. Their points went down even more.

Just as they were about to attack again, we quickly did instead. One more move should take them out.

Kokoa smiled over at me. "Ruru, throw Kirlia forward."

Ruru tossed Kirlia forward, towards the two Eevees. It was time to finish this.

"Use hypnosis! Then dream eater!"

The Eevees both fell asleep, but before Kira could use dream eater, the buzzer went off. Our five minutes were up.

Kokoa and I turned to the scoreboard. Our points had barely been damaged. We'd won by a long shot.

A man presented Kokoa and I with two ribbons that fit together. The ribbons were decorated in colors of blue and red that seemed to match our hair. It was like they were made for us.

As we walked into the contest hall, we found Takuya waiting for us impatiently, tapping his foot. He sighed when he saw us.

"Good job, but you could've made quicker work of those two. Now come on, we're going to Meisa city."

Kokoa's eyes sparkled. "Yes! Meisa city!"

I was confused. "What's so great about Meisa city?"

Kokoa huffed. "For one thing, there's a fire gym there. Secondly, Meisa is known as the town of romance! There's all kinds of cool places there!"

I blushed at the thought. Romance? Maybe I could meet the guy of my dreams there! And I bet they'd have lots of romance manga. It sounded perfect!

I nodded, still day dreaming. "How do we get there?"

Takuya took out a map. "We just need to go down Route 22. Lots of people travel to Meisa, so we should look out for trainers...and fangirls who'll want to get with me in the town of love."

Kokoa sighed. "So I'm gonna be your anti chick magnet again?"

Takuya nodded. "That's the plan."

Kokoa growled. "I really hate you. You only travel with us so you won't have to deal with fangirls."

Takuya shrugged. "Hate me if you want. I don't care."

It was all I could do to keep them from ripping each other's heads off as we started our journey down Route 22. Takuya and Kokoa sure were temperamental.

What we didn't know was that some old friends and enemies were waiting for us further down the trail. And they would do something that I'd never forgive them for...

* * *

Here are some shipping names I've come up with for possible couples!

Akako/Ichigo: Cheerfulsilenceshipping

Kohaku/Miku: Gymshipping

Kohaku/Ichigo: Oppositeshipping

Ishi/Ichigo: Goodevilshipping

Takuya/Kokoa: Tempershipping

If there are any couples that you think are possible, tell me who and I'll make a shipping name for them too! And in your review, tell me what shipping you support. I've decided on them for the most part, but I'm not sure on a few. Well, have a nice day!

-IchigoHatake


	16. Death of a Close Friend?

Chapter 16

As we walked down Route 22, me met up with some friends and foes. Team Millennium was in a heated battle against, Kohaku, Miku, AND Akako.

I gasped as I saw them fighting against Millennium's robots with their newly evolved Servine, Wartortle, and Grovyle. I would've pouted that my Torchic hadn't evolve, but those three needed our help.

Kokoa and Takuya readied their Ninetales and Luxray, who were always out of their pokeballs, and I prepared Torchic. I noticed lots of grunts, but more importantly, Tsubaki and Ishi were her too.

Miku yelped as she fought with Wartortle and her evolved form of Pidove, Tranquil. Kohaku fought, screaming at his sister, with his Servine, Mankey, and Slugma. Akako was as cold as ever as he fought with Grovyle, Pidgeot, and a newly obtained Larvitar.

Kokoa, Takuya and I rushed over immediately, calling out the rest of our Pokémon to fight.

Ishi smirked as he saw me approach. "Hey babe. I told you we'd be back for you and your Pokémon."

I glared at him and ran over to help Akako. Ishi grunted.

"Well, now that you're here, we'll be disposing of those pesky Pokémon!"

Akako glared at me. "I always find you wherever there's trouble."

I smiled innocently. "I guess it's a gift of mine."

He sighed. "Whatever. Let's just kick their asses!"

Not only did we have to battle against the robots that adapted to our every move, but we had to dodge and knock out Millenniums grunts who came at our Pokémon with various weapons.

I heard Takuya growl as he saved Miku from a robot. Here eyes lit up as she saw him. Kohaku told me she was very flirtatious.

"Thanks Takuya!" she blushed.

Takuya shrugged. "Yeah. Now be more careful. We're slowly being surrounded."

Kokoa fought with Kohaku, knocking out grunts who all tried to capture her. She knocked another one senseless, beating him with her fists.

"Get away from me you freaks!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Just as another robot hurled itself at me, Kira saved me by using psychic. I sighed in relief.

"Thanks Kira! I owe you one!"

Just then, another grunt came lunging at us, Takuya's Pidgeot used it's talons to grab the man's knife from his hands. Akako then knocked the guy out.

He turned to me. "Did he get you?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm fine, but more are coming!"

Three more robots beeped as they threw themselves at us, around ten grunts following behind them. At this rate, they'd kill our Pokémon!

Kokoa and Takuya quickly jumped over to help, crashing robots into each other and beating up on grunts. The only ones not involved in the fight were Ishi and Tsubaki. I could hear them talking.

Tsubaki looked like she might cry. "This isn' right. Attacking all these Pokémon like this..."

Ishi nodded sadly, looking teary eyed as well. "You know that we have no choice. If we don't do this...he'll hurt them."

Them? Whose them? I didn't understand the conversation, but it didn't sound like they wanted to be a part of this.

Tsubaki sighed. "If you can bring Kokoa to the boss, he might free you."

Ishi nodded. "Maybe..."

Tsubaki blushed as she looked into his eyes. "I want you to leave this awful team..."

Just then, Ishi turned and looked me in the eyes. His sad expression turned hard again as he signalled at the grunts.

"Attack the red haired girl! She's wide open!"

I growled, knocking out quite a few grunts. I felt so powerful all of the sudden, knowing that if I couldn't beat these guys, my Pokémon would suffer. I didn't want that.

I heard Torchic scream, but it wasn't being attacked. She was glowing in an odd way. I realized she was evolving.

Her limbs got bigger and her body shape began to change. She got taller and looked stronger. My little Amber had become a Combusken. My Pokémon wasn't the only one to evolve though.

As I turned around, I noticed Kokoa staring at Ruru in shock. It was glowing and growing as well.

When it had finally changed shape, it became what my pokedex reffered to as a Lucario. It looked really strong and cool!

With two new evolved Pokémon on our side, this battle began to really heat up. I smiled at Amber.

"Use sky uppercut!"

It cut apart the robots into scraps of metal. Kokoa, also wanting to test her Pokemon's power, called out a move.

"Ruru, use bonerush!"

A glowing stick appeared in its hand as it rammed into robots and grunts alike. We were starting to win the fight!

But then...Millennium did something unforgivable. The world seemed to stop as the vision blurred in my mind.

A male grunt holding a knife came charging at me, eyes red and blood thirsty. I knew he wouldn't have been instructed to kill me, but he came at me anyway.

I wasn't able to run quick enough to avoid his blade. My short life started to flash before my eyes, but the flashing stopped as someone or something else took the blow for me.

Blood splattered across my face and hands as the knife plunged into a close friend. The grunt ran away quickly, as my eyes began to tear up.

Their body was becoming cold, eyes dimming. My chest felt like lead and I thought I might throw up. I was crying so much I could barely see.

I hugged their body tightly, crying on them as I cradled them like a baby. There was suddenly an unearthly sound, screeching throughout the field. It was my own blood curdling scream.

"KIIIRRRLLLIIIIIAAAAA!"

* * *

;~; Kirlia is dead and if you aren't crying then you're heartless because I'm about to right now! Well, you aren't heartless, but you know.

New possible shipping of Ishi/Tsubaki: Millenniashipping

If you are in tears right now, I'm sorry, but Kirlia is dead now. Please review...

-IchigoHatake


	17. Mourning Then Getting Back Up!

Chapter 17

Everyone's eyes widened as I cried over Kira's dead body, blood smearing on my face and washing away with my bitter tears. Akako rushed over to me.

He took a look at Kirlia and knew that there was nothing he could do. As he looked at me, he seemed scared. I assumed he was one of those guys that couldn't deal with tears.

Kokoa pushed him aside and took a look at Kirlia. She covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a heart wrenching scream. No one had predicted this outcome. No one had thought that Team Millennium would actually kill any of our Pokémon. But now it had happened...

As soon as Takuya, Kohaku, and Miku had finished beating up on the robots and grunts, they crowded around me as well. Tears were shed as they saw Kirlia's body.

Kohaku punched the ground with his bare fist. "Dammit, Tsubaki! Why did you join a team like this?! Do you know what you're doing?! You just took the innocent life of a Pokémon! This shouldn't have happened..."

Tsubaki stared down at her feet, glasses glaring so that I couldn't make out her expression. Even if he glasses wouldn't have blinded me, I wouldn't have saw her anyway because of my blurry vision from crying.

I felt everyone embracing me, even cold and silent Akako and nearly emotionless Takuya. I was happy that they were trying to comfort me, but nothing could stop these tears now.

I pushed my way from everyone else and stood up, crying, shaking, and trying hard not to drop Kirlia who felt heavy because of all the dead weight.

I looked Tsubaki and Ishi in the eye. "Get the hell out of my sight if you don't want to end up like Kirlia!"

Tsubaki and Ishi cowered and grabbed their belongings, sprinting away faster than I thought possible.

As soon as they were out of my field of vision, I fell to my knees and started to sob again. My new Combusken cheeped softly as it rubbed my back in an effort to lift my spirits.

I embraced Amber, despite the fact that I was bloody. Amber hugged me back, weeping for its Contest comrade. We all stood in a moment of silence. At last, Kokoa broke the ice.

She pointed at something out in the distance. "What's that?"

I turned to look. In the distance, stood a blue Kirlia, tears blotting its vision. Wasn't that the same Kirlia that had stood by Kira? I slowly approached it.

The little critter didn't run away. It sniffled quietly as it saw Kirlia's dead body. They must have been siblings. The poor blue Kirlia looked up at me sadly.

I smiled weakly. "She meant something to you two, huh? Have you been watching over her all this time?"

The blue Kirlia nodded and latched onto my leg, crying. I crouched down and placed Kirlia's body beside me, picking up the blue one now. I rocked it like a baby.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed. "There was nothing I could do to save her..."

The blue Kirlia whimpered softly in my arms. "Liaaa!"

The poor thing looked so innocent and vulnerable. I wondered if it would last long on its own. I made a decision.

"Hey. If you have no place to go, you can come with me. I don't mean to replace Kirlia, but I don't want to leave you all alone. What do you say?"

The blue Kirlia nodded and I smiled a bit. I took out a spare pokeball and tapped the Kirlia with it. After it rolled three times, I knew I'd caught it. I called it back out.

"I guess you need a nickname..."

Kirlia tilted its head and I took out my gender scanner. Just like my other one, this one was a girl.

"Hmmm. How about Ao? It means Blue."

The blue Kirlia nodded. Just then, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. It was one of the guys. I turned around and saw Akako looking at me sympathetically.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded a bit. "I'm still upset, but I think I'll be fine with time."

He nodded. "I know what it's like to lose someone close to you..."

I was suddenly very curious. "Who did you lose?"

He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it right now. How about you get cleaned up and all of us can head to Meisa together? I'm pretty sure you'll cheer up when we go their."

I scoffed. "How do you know?"

He shrugged. "I hear you love sweets. Meisa has lots of sugary food."

I smiled a bit, but still couldn't completely recover. The impact of Kira's death was incredible. It would take a while before I was myself again.

Kokoa came over and once again pushed Akako out of the way. "Oi! Aka-baka! You aren't upsetting her, are you?"

Akako was confused. "Aka-baka?"

Kokoa smirked. "It's your new nickname because you're an idiot. I don't see why you stopped me from beating up those grunts."

Akako grunted. "You're mad about something as stupid as that?"

She elbowed him in the rib cage. "Just shut up and go back to your lone wolf life! We're taking Ichigo to Meisa."

Akako nodded. "Kohaku and Miku already beat the gym there, but I haven't. Maybe I'll walk there with you guys."

Kokoa looked disgusted by the idea. "Why should we let YOU come?"

Takuya shrugged. "You let ME come."

Kokoa was about to start another argument with Takuya. "I DID NOT LET YOU COME! YOU INVITED YOURSELF!"

I closed them off as Akako and I started marching forward. Takuya and Kokoa decided to hate each other in silence as they followed along.

I looked down at Amber and Ao. Both were very upset by Kirlia's death. I knew this wasn't the end though. We'd get back on our feet. After all, we were heading to the city of love...

* * *

Tell me if you think up anymore possible shippings for this story. I'll come up with names for them and maybe include them in the story. Thanks!

-IchigoHatake


	18. A Swinub Safari!

Chapter 18

I felt a bit happier as the four of us arrived in Meisa. You heard me right. FOUR. Mr. Lone wolf, Akako decided to travel with us here since he hasn't obtained the gym's badge yet.

Kokoa hissed at all the girls who got too close to Takuya. Takuya grinned happily. He loved his fangirl repellant.

I smiled a bit and looked over at Amber, who was now a Combusken. She looked so cool and strong! She was carrying our new friend, Ao the shiny Kirlia, in her arms.

Kokoa looked over at me. "Are you ok, Ichigo?"

I looked up at her and smiled. "I'm fine. Just admiring Amber. I'm so happy that she evolved."

Kokoa sudenly looked pumped. "Yeah! It's awesome when a Pokemon evolved! I was ecstatic to see Ruru evolve into a Lucario!"

Takuya sighed boredly. "Can you quit squealing over your Pokemon. I just want to get to the gym."

Akako nodded. "If you want to go to the gym with us, we'll be going."

Kokoa looked at me. "Are you coming with us?"

I shook my head. "No. I'd get bored watching three gym battles. I'll just look around and meet you back here later."

Kokoa sighed. "Alright..."

Akako looked over at me. "Don't worry. My gym battle will be quick. I'll come and pick you up soon. Just try not to get lost."

I growled. When this guy wasn't completely mute, he was saying something rude to me. I did hope they'd hurry with their battles though. I didn;t want to be alone forever.

I turned to look at Amber and Ao. "I hear that there's a safari zone. Do you guys want me to catch a new friend?"

The both cheered and I nodded. "Ok guys. Sadly, I can't battle with Pokemon in their, so you'll have to stay put."

They nodded and I pulled out their pokeballs, returning them quickly. Then, I entered the safari zone.

A lady at the counter held my Pokemon and gave me 20 safari balls to use. I thanked her before heading out.

I was in a very grassy woodland looking area. There were lots of flowers and I could hear Pokemon rustling throughout the greenery.

The first Pokemon to pop out was a big Tauros. I threw some bait to make it happy. However, it ate and then just ran away. No luck on that one...

I kept searching around, tossing safari balls and failing each time until I came upon a Pokemon I really wanted. I looked it up on my pokedex.

_Swinub the pig Pokemon_

_It has a very sensitive nose. It can locate mushrooms, berries, and even hot springs buried under the ice._

It sounded cool and looked really cute. I had to catch it! I walked over slowly, readying my safari balls.

It turned away from the berries it was munching to face me. Noticing I wanted to catch it, it growled, preparing to fight.

I decided that since it looked hungry, I'd toss some bait. It oinked happily and ate the bait, but unlike the Tauros from earlier, it didn't run away.

I threw a litle bit more bait, and it squealed happily. It ate everything I'd thrown. It then nudged against my leg.

I laughed. "If you come with me, there'll be more food where that came from!"

The Swinub nodded and jumped up at my safari ball. I laughed and tapped it against Swinub's forehead.

With threes rolls, I knew it was caught. I picked up the Pokeball and called out Swinub, taking out my gender scanner. Swinub was a boy.

I thought for a moment. "I've got a nickname for you! I'll call you Chestnut!"

Swinub jumped, clearly liking the name. I picked it up and walked over to the exit. I had myself a new friend.

The woman at the desk smiled when she saw me and Swinub. "Have a nice day. Enjoy your new Pokemon!"

I nodded at the lady and exited, ramming into someone. It was Akako.

"Sorry," I said.

He grunted. "It's fine."

"Um...how did you find me?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I asked some people if they'd seen you.

I nodded and looked down at Swinub. "I was just picking up a new friend. Chestnut, meet Akako!"

"Swinub!" chestnut yelled happily.

Akako gave it a pat. I smiled at him. "I'm assuming you won the gym match.

Akako smiled arrogantly. "Yup. I challenged the leader first. Takuya's up right now."

I nodded and called out the rest of my Pokemon, introducing them all to Chestnut. Amber and Ao happily greeted Chestnut, and the little Swinub happily greeted back.

Akako smiled down at them. "Let's go to a cafe. I'm pretty hungry and it might take those two a bit."

I smiled and called back Chestnut and Ao into their pokeballs. "Ok."

Amber followed happily behind us as we walked to the cafe. Akako stared at Amber.

"Why do you keep it out of its pokeball?"

I shrugged. "She prefers to be out in the open."

Akako shrugged it off and opened the door for me when we got to the cafe. "After you."

I smiled and entered the cafe, taking in the sweet aroma of hot cocoa. That sounded good right about now.

It felt a bit odd coming here with Akako. He always seemed so silent and rude, but he seemed a bit nicer now. I liked him better this way. Who knows what would happen with us alone in the cafe in the city of love...


	19. Rejection?

Chapter 19

Akako and I both sat down at a nearby table and grabbed a menu, scanning through it to see what we wanted. Akako's face looked expressionless as usual, which irritated the hell out of me for whatever reason.

I stared at him, willing him to show some emotion. Anger, happiness, ANYTHING would do. But Nope. That stupid blank face.

He then looked up, noticing that I was staring at him. I blushed and immediately stared back down at my menu, hoping he didn't actually catch my gaze.

Akako let out a small chuckle, though it only lasted a few seconds. I looked up and saw him smiling. My face got redder.

"What?" I asked.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. This silence is just so awkward..."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah..."

He stood up, pushing in his chair. "How about we ditch this place and do something fun?"

I grabbed three cupcakes from the table then stood up. I wasn't leaving without some sugar. "Ok. Let's go!"

Amber cooed happily as it followed us out the front door. As I walked out, I saw two familiar faces. Takuya and Kokoa. As I was about to call out at them, I noticed Takuya blushing, so being the nosey and mischievous girl I am, I had to listen in on their conversation.

Takuya spoke. "Kokoa, will you go out with me?"

Kokoa just stared at him coldly. "No."

Takuya looked shocked. "What?"

Kokoa snorted. "I said no. All you do is argue with me and se me to scare away fangirls. Ask me again when you start treating me like a REAL man would."

Takuya looked really surprised, but seemed to understand what she was saying. "Sorry. I'll just go..."

As Takuya ran off, I tried to attract his attention. "Takuya! Wait!"

He didn't wait though, he kept going. Kokoa rejected him pretty coldly. I wondered they would make up. If they didn't, would Takuya stop travelling with us?

Kokoa turned around, hearing my scream. She looked suddenly embarrassed.

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

Akako sighed. "All of it."

Kokoa grunted. "Well whatever. What I told him was the truth. All he does is piss me off and treat me like bug spray for his little fangirls. He should just go out with one of them..."

"Don't you think that was a little harsh, Kokoa?" I asked sadly. "What if he doesn't come back?"

She snorted. "Then good riddance! I don't see how he even fell for me in so little time."

I sighed. "It's been almost a month. I could see how he'd develop a crush on you."

Kokoa crossed her arms. "Well it doesn't matter! I've got this gym's badge so we should move on!"

I shook my head. "No way! I don't want to leave without Takuya."

Kokoa hissed. "What do YOU care about Takuya?"

"Hmph. He's our friend and we should check to see if he's ok. Even if you don't want to date him, can't you stay friends? It won't be the same if we journey without him."

Kokoa groaned. "Fine. I'll talk to the idiot."

As Kokoa walked off, Akako smirked. "Try to be nice, Ms. Wicked witch of the west!"

Kokoa stuck her tongue out at Akako. "Shut up Aka-baka! None of this concerns you!"

I sighed and followed after Kokoa to make sure she didn't say anything more to upset Takuya. "Stay here and wait for us Akako!"

He sighed. "Just hurry up Slowpoke."

I growled at him and then ran to catch up to Kokoa. She looked angry, but I could tell that she was worried if even just a little bit. I smiled. Maybe she had a soft spot for him.

Noticing my devious smile, she blushed a bit. "What's with you?"

I laughed. "Nothing at all. Don't worry about it."

She grunted. "Oi! If you think I'm worried about that idiot, then you're worse than Aka-baka!"

I frowned. "Why do you hate Akako so much?"

Kokoa shrugged. "He's just irritating."

"And you like Takuya better?"

She elbowed me in the side. "Shut up! You don't know anything!"

I giggled. "In denial?"

Just as she was about to hit me again, we heard lots of girls screaming. They all crowded around in one specific area. We knew that Takuya was in the middle of that commotion.

I saw Takuya emerge from the girls, facing the side. He struggled as the girls ripped him apart.

Kokoa growled in an unearthly way, burning in jealousy. I knew she liked him. She was just being stubborn.

Kokoa stomped over there and grabbed a girl by the hair. The girl screamed, attracting everyone elses attention. The girls all gasped in fear when they saw the look on Kokoa's face.

"Oi! Back away from the girl or I'll shave you all bald!"

Kokoa then pulled out a pair of new scissors and brought them closer to the head of the girl she was holding. Most of the girls then ran away screaming. Kokoa hissed at the girls who kept their ground.

Kokoa laughed. "Not afraid of me, huh? Well you SHOULD be!"

Kokoa screamed and lunged at the girls, tackling many of them to the ground. She scratched at them and hissed until each one of them ran away crying. Looks like Kokoa had a yandere side...

Takuya stared at her. She turned and gave him a dirty look. "Tch. Don't look at me like that! Come on. We're friends, right? Now get your ass over here! Ichigo, Aka-baka, and I aren't leaving without you. I'll kidnap you if I have to and I'm dead serious!"

Takuya smiled a bit. "I'm coming. You didn't need to be so rude."

Kokoa hissed. "Dammit! There you go mad again. I should've just left you."

Takuya smiled a bit more. "Sorry. How about we head to Garna town? There's a gym there and a contest will be going on."

I pumped my fist in the air. "Let's go there!"

Kokoa sighed. "Fine. Ichigo, go get Aka-baka..."

I smiled and nodded, running off to fetch him. I felt happy. Kokoa and Takuya were friends again and who knows, maybe they'd eventually get together. That is, if Takuya starts acting nicer and when Kokoa quits being so stubborn. This might take a while...

Anyway, I'd had a pretty good time in Meisa. I'd been interrupted before I could do anything with Akako, but there was plenty of time to get to know him. I swear I'd open him up if it's the last thing I do. But until we can all get along, this is how things will be and I guess that's ok for now...


	20. Secrets?

Chapter 20

It took us two days to arrive in Garna town and everyone was exhausted. As soon as we got there, we all walked into a nearby hotel, hoping they'd have some rooms left. Takuya walked sluggishly over to the counter.

Even half asleep, he still looked amazing and the woman at the counter blushed. "May I help you?"

He groaned wearily. "Could we get two rooms please?"

The woman frowned and sucked her teeth. "I'm sorry. Lots of people have been coming in to challenge our rock gym, so there's only one room available. If you want that, it has four beds and we can get you a divider to separate the boys from the girls."

Takuya turned to us. "Will that work?"

Akako shrugged. "I don't really care. I just want sleep."

I just sighed sleepily. I was too exhausted to speak.

Kokoa hissed. "If it's the only room they've got, then take it!"

Takuya nodded and turned back to the woman, sighing. "I guess we'll take it."

The woman smiled sweetly and handed him a room key. Takuya then paid her $20 for our stay and grabbed a folded up divider.

As we headed to our room, room 44, we ran into a familiar face. LITERALLY ran into. I smacked right into her. Professor Pine.

She chuckled. "Oh. I'm sorry...hey! Akako and Ichigo! It's you!"

Kokoa looked confused. "You know this woman?"

I nodded. "She's the Professor who gave me Amber! The one and only, Prof. Pine!"

She bowed a bit. "Pleased to meet you."

I smiled. "These are my friends Kokoa and Takuya. I met them as I was journeying."

Prof. Pine frowned. "I'm glad I ran into you. Um...do your friends know about Team Millennium?"

I nodded. "We all do. They...killed my Kirlia."

The Prof. looked outraged. "Would you mind if we chatted in your room? I've gathered some info about those murderers!"

We led the Prof. to our room and circled around her on the floor, clutching pillows and curling up in some warm blankets.

Prof. Pine pulled out a laptop from her bag and typed until a picture popped up. It was a picture of Ishi.

"Have you seen this boy before?" asked Pine.

I nodded. "Yes. He was one of the leaders of the grunts. He's a flirt too..."

Prof. Pine nodded. "According to my records, this boy disappeared two years ago after his friend, Angel, was hospitalized. She's in a coma."

Akako sighed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Pine raised a hand to silence him. "I'll explain in a second."

She pulled up a picture of Tsubaki and again, we told her that we knew her and that she was Kohaku's sister.

Pine's eyes flared. "She disappeared two years ago after her brother had been returned from a kidnapping."

Kokoa sighed angrily. "Can you just tell us what everything means?!"

Pine nodded. "I think that these kids are being blackmailed into being a part of Team Millennium. My theory is that they promised Ishi that they'd help Angel, a girl in a coma, if he joined them. My theory for Tsubaki is that she joined Millennium in the place of her brother, who they wanted to kidnap to make him a part of this."

Takuya looked intrigued. "Why would they blackmail them though?"

Pine looked grim. "Those two kids possess great skills. You may not have noticed, but Ishi doesn't where shoes. Why? Because he can sense Pokémon approaching through the movement of the Earth."

Things were starting to click. "And that would be a useful talent for Team Millennium so that they could find and destroy all Pokémon!"

Pine nodded. "As for Tsubaki, her and her brother are both highly intelligent and brilliant hackers. And what better way to find rare and hidden Pokémon than by hacking in different databases? When they say they want to destroy Pokémon, they do mean ALL of them."

Kokoa looked shocked. "Even legendaries?!"

Pine sighed. "Yes. Even the legendaries. They especially want Arceus and Mew gone for the obvious reason of how they connect to all other Pokémon on Earth."

Kokoa looked really alarmed. Takuya walked over to her. "Why do you seem so scared?"

Kokoa pulled out a single pokeball and stared at it with great intent. This was no ordinary pokeball though. It was a timer ball. Whatever Pokémon that was in there must have put up a long fight.

"What's in there, Kokoa? Are you scared Millennium will hurt it?"

She sighed. "I KNOW they'll hurt it. It's exactly what they're looking for! It's not legendary, but it's very powerful..."

Just as we were about to question her further, she decided to answer us. She tossed up the timer ball and out came a dark looking Pokémon. Kokoa owned a Pokémon like that?!

I didn't recognize the Pokémon, so I immediately referred to my pokedex. The dark type Pokémon and the grand master of creating illusions, Zoroark. Kokoa had captured a Zoroark.

* * *

Oh. A Zoroark. I wonder what other secrets Kokoa has been hiding? Thank you to all those who have been reading and I have a question for you! Since I've introduced more new characters and such, who's you fave character NOW? Leave it in your review! Have a wonderful day!

-IchigoHatake


	21. Kokoa: Friend or Foe?

Chapter 21

Prof. Pine looked completely shocked. "Where did you get that Zoroark?"

Kokoa sighed. "My mom gave it to me."

The Prof. looked startled still. "Who's your mother?"

Kokoa looked out in the distance. "Her name is Chiyo..."

A look of recognition shot in Pine's eyes. "You mean Chiyo Tsukino?"

Kokoa narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my mom?"

Pine smiled. "She's an old friend. She has such a great love for Pokémon! She was always interested in legendary Pokémon and begged me for info on them. I didn't know she had a child...or got married for that matter."

Kokoa glared at the Prof. "Don't bother with my family history. It doesn't matter. She DID get married and had me, but got divorced after my dad...changed. That's all I'll say."

Kokoa looked upset and she soon returned Zoroark and buried its pokeball deep within her bag. I was a bit worried about her. She felt so distant all of a sudden. What exactly could she be hiding? Millennium seemed to want her for some reason...

I picked up my stuff and sat closer to Kokoa. "Kokoa...do you know what Millennium wants with you?"

Her eyes looked knowing, but she didn't want to say. "I don't want to say..."

I pried at the matter even more. "Why not?"

She hissed. "Just because! Why don't you just drop it?!"

I frowned. "Why? Because I want to know! I want to help you!"

Kokoa shook her head vigorously. "Once you know, you'll hate me!"

"No I won't! I couldn't hate you!"

Kokoa's eyes were getting teary, but she refused to cry. She wasn't the kind of person to cry in front of others. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

Kokoa looked at me sadly. "Do you really want to know?"

I nodded. "Yes! I want to help you and protect you!"

Kokoa looked very reluctant. "I wouldn't blame you if you beat me up..."

"Why would I beat you up?"

Kokoa let a single tear fall. "BECAUSE I'M THE DAUGHTER OF AKUMA! THE LEADER OF THE TEAM THAT KILLED KIRLIA!"

Everyone in the room gasped, except for me. I felt numb. Lied to. Betrayed. Why hadn't she told me this before? I felt the tears stream down my cheeks as I thought of Kira and how she'd been brutally murdered.

I then remembered Akuma. The white haired, heartless man who'd attacked us and nearly caused my death. Akuma and Kokoa looked nothing alike, but then again, she might get her mom's looks.

If Kokoa was Akuma's daughter...then what now? I felt so confused. I didn't know whether to strangle her or stay rational and see whose side she was on. My head was spinning.

I then snapped back into the real world as I felt myself being embraced by a person who was crying as I was. It was Kokoa. She hugged me as she cried.

She sniffled. "I'm sorry. I should've told you, but I thought you'd hate me. You were one of my first real friends. I swear that I'm not on their side! Remember when I said my dad snapped? This is what I was talking about. He turned sinister and started this group. I didn't want to be a part of it, but now he's sending the grunts out looking for me. Please believe me!"

The feeling of numbness faded as I gained a new feeling. Pain. A stabbing pain that pierced my heart. I was angered by Millennium, but not Kokoa. I believed her. After everything, it was clear she hated Team Millennium.

Takuya, Akako, and Prof. Pine weren't so sure though. They looked at Kokoa skeptically and with great disgust.

Akako snorted. "Why should we believe you?"

Takuya nodded, but didn't say anything. He looked a bit torn about whether he should trust in Kokoa or not.

Prof. Pine looked completely enraged. "YOUR FATHER HAS DESTROYED MY LAB, KILLED MANY POKEMON, AND IS BLACKMAILING INNOCENT CHILDREN TO ACCOMPLISH HIS GOALS!"

Takuya rushed over to try and calm down the Professor, slowly getting her back into her gentle state.

Kokoa pushed me away gently, then stood up, clenching her fists tightly, crying while looking angrily at those three.

"If I was with Millennium, why would I train Pokémon?! Or own a legendary?! Huh? How about we let Ichigo decide to trust me or not! Then you guys can tell me what you think!"

I wiped away my tears and looked up at Kokoa. "I believe you. I doubt that your evil. You're mean sometimes, but not evil. I think you're a good guy."

Akako sighed, weighing things out in his head. "I guess she isn't bad. There's no real evidence saying that she's a traitor."

Takuya nodded. "I think she's good too."

Professor Pine snapped her laptop shut and got up to take her leave. "I believe you, Kokoa. Your mother was a good woman, but your father isn't. Know that I'll be keeping an eye on you just in case."

Pine then left, shutting the door tightly behind her. Takuya, Akako, and I all turned to face Kokoa. She looked at us questioningly.

"What?"

"Can you tell us more about you past?" I asked.

She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Akako sighed. "She means can you tell us more about Akuma? You know, how he turned evil and stuff."

Kokoa sighed sadly. "Listen up Aka-baka! You two, Takuya and Ichigo. I'm only going to tell this story once so listen. Don't interrupt! Save questions until the end! If you don't follow those rules, then there will be consequences."

We all gathered in closer as Kokoa started to reminisce. I was really curious. I wondered how dark Kokoa's past was if she had such an awful dad. At least she got all her nice qualities from her mom.

I realized I didn't know all that much about Kokoa, so now I'd dscover more. All I knew was that Chiyo was her mom, Akuma is her dad, she loves Pokémon, and her last name is Tsukino. I wonder what mysteries were hidden in that past of hers...


	22. A Little Reminiscing!

Chapter 22

**For this chapter, I'm changing things up a bit. This part will be told from Kokoa's P.O.V. This chapter is in flashback form and Kokoa is explaining the events of the flashback to Ichigo, Takuya, and Aka-baka.**

_Flashback_

_ Hello. My name is Kokoa Tsukino. I live in a nice house in Oleshire town with my mom, Chiyo, and my dad, Akuma. We're a happy family of three!_

_ Today is my 14th birthday! So far, it's been a pretty good day. My Vulpix, Ginger, evolved into Ninetales during today's contest and we won! To make things even better, my Pokémon egg hatched. It's a Riolu! I decided to call it Ruru._

_ I didn't know that today would go so far downhill though. I was just walking inside the house when I heard a vase break. I ran off to see what was going on._

_ I peaked inside mom and dad's office, careful not to let them see me. I wanted to see what was going on without them noticing me then covering things up with a lie. They did that all too often._

_ Mom looked completely furious, but at the same time, tears were running down her cheeks in sorrow. That's when I saw it. Mom's new found Pokémon, Altaria, lay dead on the ground. I gasped silently. What was going on?_

_ Mom glared at dad. "How could you do this?!"_

_ I then noticed a blood stained knife in his hands. Dad's face looked expressionless and his eyes were cold and red. He had the eyes of a killer._

_ Dad laughed. "Don't you understand? I thought you would get why I killed this awful creature."_

_ Mom hissed. "No I don't understand! What would make you kill an innocent Pokémon?!"_

_ Dad frowned. "They aren't all that innocent. Think about it! They attack humands all the time and fight amongst themselves. The great power they hold inside cause us to become greedy and seek out their power. People have almost destroyed the world with Pokémon! It's my ambition to wipe this vile things off the face of the Earth! It's for the better of man kind! Even you have seeked power in legendary and rare Pokémon. Like your Zoroark."_

_ Mom's tear kept raining down. "I'm going to call the police! You're a psychopath!"_

_ As mom ran out of the room, she plowed into me. Her eyes widened as she realized I'd been watching the whole thing._

_ I started to cry. "Altaria is...dead. Dad killed it..."_

_ Mom picked me up, evenn though I was a teenager and must have weighed a lot. She practically threw me out the front door._

_ "Kokoa, I want you to run!"_

_ She then threw a timer ball at me. Wasn's this the pokeball she kept her Zoroark in? I held it close to my chest._

_ Mom looked desperate. "Kokoa! Get the police! Use Zoroark to protect you if something goes wrong!"_

_ I followed mom's instructions and got the cops, but by the time they came, dad had fled and mom had disappeared. The only thing I had left of them was the house we shared._

_ The police asked me questions and I told them all I could. After recovering from that traumatic incident, I decided to keep going on my journey. I had one ribbon and I aimed to collect them all. Maybe I'd eventually visit some gyms too._

_ I wouldn't be known as Kokoa Tsukino though. I'd abandon my last name. I didn't want anyone to know who my father was._

_ I wondered if he would actually go through with the plan of killing all the Pokémon. That was a horrible thought. And I'd soon find out that he created Team Millennium and that he wanted me to join. I refused though and kept going my own way. And that's how I ended up where I am now..._

_ Flashback Ends_

Ichigos' P.O.V.

I was shocked. "So you don't know where your mom is?"

Kokoa shook her head. "Absolutely no clue."

Akako looked more sympathetic towards Kokoa. "I wonder what changed your dad so drastically."

Kokoa sighed. "He'd always been a bit unstable. Mom never expected him to snap like that though."

Takuya sighed. "It isn't something anyone would be able to predict..."

Kokoa yawned loudly, got up, and stretched. "Well I'm beat. Can you stop interrogating me so we can sleep?"

Everyone nodded and got into bed on different sides of the room. Kokoa and I slept near the balcony and Akako and Takuya would sleep close to the door. Before crawling in bed, Takuya set up the divider so nobody could bother each other.

After an hour of lying in bed awake, staring up at the ceiling, I growled and threw off my sheets. There was too much on my mind to be able to sleep.

I walked out on the balcony and felt the cool breeze on my skin, blowing my hair gently. After hearing Kokoa's story, I'd been starting to think about my own parents.

My mom was a Professor who worked all the way in Kalos, so I never got to see her. My dad is obsessed with discovering new Pokémon, so he's always out adventuring. I hadn't seen either one of them in a long time and on the rare occasion that they visited, we'd all end up fighting. Not as tough as Kokoa's life maybe, but I dealt with it.

After a while, I remembered that a contest was going to be held here. After everyone got their badges from the rock gym, Kokoa and I were going to battle for the Garna ribbon. I wondered which of us would win...

I called out all three of my Pokémon and told them our game plan. I would use Chestnut and Ao in the performance part, then Chestnut and Amber in the battle rounds. I wanted to find a way to combine some fire and ice!

It was going to be a long day tomorrow, so at last, I succumbed to sleep, plopping back down on my dead and going out as soon as I hit the pillow. Get ready for me Garna town! This coordinator is coming your way!


	23. Peek at Millennium!

Chapter 23

**Things will be going a bit different this chapter. This will be a 3rd person view and we'll be looking in on what Team Millennium is doing. Maybe some secrets will be revealed. You won't know unless you Read...Enjoy!**

Tsubaki sighed wearily as she dug through a mountain of paperwork. She grabbed the file she needed and walked to her computer, pushing more papers out of the way. Akuma had her working like a dog to trace all the legendary/rare/power Pokémon. So far they've found Victini, Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf. It was an okay start, but none of it was good enough for Akuma. He wanted to gather all the legendaries at once, then kill them in a public display to show Millennium's power.

Tsubak yawned. "I wonder how Ishi is doing...?"

Just then, Ishi barged straight in, knocking over stacked papers and steaming angrily. Tsubaki groaned. Akuma must be working him too.

Tsubaki smiled a bit. "Has Akuma put you to work?"

Ishi slammed his fist on the table. "Of course he has! I go all the way to Unova to capture this annoying Victini and he doesn't even give a word of thanks! I don't know why he doesn't just kill those Pokémon now! What if they escaped again?!"

Tsubaki nodded. "He's just power hungry as usual. Speaking of Akuma, he wants us to capture Kokoa soon."

Ishi sneered. "So he wants to enslave his daughter too?"

"He already captured his wife. Now he wants his kid. Akuma is such a sad man. Mentally unstable."

Ishi looked disgusted. "Mentally unstable is an understament! He kidnapped his wife and has her chained up in some dungeon. He refuses to let her go. Crazy moron. What the hell is wrong with him?"

Tsubaki looked up at Ishi worriedly. "Lower your voice. Grunts are walking everywhere and will tell the boss if they hear you speaking ill of him."

Ishi laughed. "Let them tell on me then! I never signed up for this..."

Tears starting forming in Tsubaki's eyes. "Yeah. The only reason we're here is because of blackmail...Kohaku..."

Ishi gave Tsubaki a quick hug, trying to comfort her. It made him uncomfortable to see her crying like that. She had no reason to cry. He'd promised her two years ago that he'd find a way for them to escape and Ishi always kept his promises.

Ishi thought of something. "If those kids defeat Millennium, we could be saved!"

A spark of hope ignited in Tsubaki's yellow eyes. "You're right! If anyone can defeat us, it's them. We know that Kokoa is deadly and temperamental. Takuya battles with great strategy. Akako has lots of brute power in his Pokémon. And that Ichigo girl has a real connection with her Pokémon. I think that pure heart of her can cleanse Akuma's dark heart."

Ishi nodded. "Next time we meet them, we should ask for their help."

Tsubaki smiled. "I'm sure that Pokémon professor has already told them about us."

Ishi sighed and nodded his head. "We can only hope for the best..."

Ichigo's P.O.V.

Ao and Swinub finished their performance, cheering happily to see that they'd finally gotten it right. Ao and Chestnut were fairly new Pokémon, but Ao had equal if not more skill than Kira, and Chestnut had a natural talent for performing. Now it was time for a fire and ice combo.

"Amber and Chestnut! You're up!" I called out.

Amber leaped cooly into the field and Chestnut scooted over happily. I was hoping that this would go well.

I smiled. "I have a plan so that the fire and ice won't cancel each other out. Amber, can you use sky uppercut?"

Amber's claws began to glow with a white light. Sky uppercut was ready and raring to go!

I nodded. "Ok! Can your sky uppercut absorb your ember?"

Amber used ember on one of her claws and it was absorbed, causing her hand to glow with a sparkling orange light. I gave a thumbs up.

"Ok, Chestnut. Can you use a mini blizzard attack?"

Chestnut blew out a few snowflakes which were absorbed into Amber's other hand, creating a glowing blue effect.

Amber had fire in one hand and ice in the other. This was the perfect move from the battle field!

I laughed happily. "That's perfect guys! You rock! Amber, set that move in motion!"

Amber struck at a nearby tree, first burning it up, then cooling and freezing it with ice. Looks like the move was very effective.

Just then, the gym battle trio came prancing in, admiring their new rock badges. Looks like they'd won with ease.

Kokoa sighed. "I want to catch a new Pokémon. I want something stronger."

Takuya laughed. "And Zoroark isn't powerful enough?"

"Zoroark is my ace. I'm not going to use it unless necessary."

I smiled over at them. "Hey Kokoa! Get ready because we'll be competing tomorrow!"

Kokoa smirked. "Yeah. And I'm going to beat you again!"

I laughed. "We'll see! My team has just perfected their techniques!"

Kokoa nodded. "Well, we'll see how things go tomorrow. How about we all relax for a while?"

I nodded and followed along, but I was still pumped. Tomorrow would be a day to remember. Who knows, maybe I'd even beat Kokoa! That would be awesome! Everything would be revealed tomorrow...


	24. Garna Contest: Fire and Ice Ignite!

Chapter 24

Today was the day! It was the Garna contest and Kokoa and I were waiting backstage. I soon realized this would be the first contest Akako would ever see me in. I'd have to do my very best!

Kokoa looked very calm and collected, stroking Ginger, as I was bouncing off the walls, Amber, Chestnut, and Ao cheering behind me. All the other coordinators looked at me angrily, shooting daggers into me. I must be immune to daggers, because their icy looks didn't damper my mood whatsoever.

Kokoa sighed at me. "Can you calm down? It's just another contest!"

I looked at her funny. "Aren't you excited? You might win your fifth ribbon!"

She shrugged. "There's always the chance that I might lose."

"Kokoa, you pessimist! Have more confidence!"

She sighed again. "It isn't that I'm not confident. I just don't want to get my hopes up and then get knocked down. Isn't that what happened with you at the Riko contest?"

I groaned. "Don't remind me!"

Just then..."Ichigo! You're up!"

I smiled and turned to Ao and Chestnut? "You ready?"

The two cute Pokémon nodded and I returned them to their pokeballs. I then turned over to Amber.

"Behave until I come back."

Amber saluted and I waved before running down the hall and out into the spotlight. I smiled excitedly and through out Ao and Chestnut with their smoke seals.

I smiled. "Chestnut, use ice shard!"

Chestnut shot out shimmering shard of ice. Ao knew what to do next before I called out the move. She used psychic and spun the ice shards around the stage. Kirlia spun round and round and chestnut chased after the shards cutely. The audience clapped.

"Nice one, Ichigo!" I heard Akako call. Wow. I got a compliment for once.

I smiled confidently at my Pokémon. "Wrap this up with psywave!"  
Ao's rainbow like move shone through the ice shards, creating rainbows to shoot out everywhere. It was gorgeous. The shards were acting like mirrors. Everyone whistled and cheered as I closed my performance.

Kokoa's performance followed two people after me. She threw out Ruru and Pilot. Riolu and Ducklett posed cutely.

"Rilou use aura sphere!"

Rilou shot several glowing aura spheres into the sky above. Kokoa nodded.

"Ducklett, use ice beam!"

Ducklett froze over each aura sphere, causing them to sparkle. The aura spheres started falling to the ground.

"Ruru, use bonerush! Ducklett use peck!"

The two of them burst apart the frozen aura spheres, creating blue glowing lights. It looked amazing! The crowd cheered as Kokoa walked away.

It was no surprise that the two of us made it into the battle rounds. I won with ease. Chestnut and Amber saved their new move for the final match though. And of course, I was paired against Kokoa in the final battle for the Garna ribbon.

Kokoa smiled at me. "So we met again..."

I smiled in return. "This time I promise I won't lose..."

I found a little confidence as I saw Akako staring over at me confidently. If he thought I could do it, then I knew I could!

"Amber and Ao, it's your time to shine!"

"Ruru and Ginger! Make me proud!"

It was time to show Kokoa how much I'd improved. I won't let her look down on me forever! I'll make this my spotlight!

"Amber use flamethrower! Swinub use take down!"

The flamethrower absorbed into the take down as Chestnut charged. Ninetales dodged with grace, but Lucario was hit in the shoulder.

Kokoa was ready to go. "Ginger, use fire spin! Ruru, bone rush!"

The fire spun around Ruru's bone rush attack as they charged at my Pokémon. Just as Ruru was about to hit Chestnut, it flinched. Its arm had been wounded by our attack!

"Tackle Chestnut!"

The little Swinub crashed into Ruru's stomach, pushing the Pokémon away. Ruru growled in frustration. Kokoa growled a bit too.

"Fire blast and aura sphere!"

The fire blast and aura sphere combined, shooting and striking Chestnut and Amber both. The clock was ticking and we were almost out of time. If this didn't work, Kokoa would win. She was ahead.

"Now! Flaming ice punch!"

Swinub and Amber acted fast, lighting up Amber's fists with glowing ice and fire. It was time to use our new move.

Kokoa noticed the time limit and her lead and knew she needed to act. She commanded Ginger to use flamethower and Ruru to use aura sphere. It created a huge cloud of smoke. Would Amber hit her mark?

The smoke cleared and revealed an injured Ginger and Ruru just as the time ran out. I looked at the points. I'd...won...

Kokoa sighed in defeat as the MC announced my win. Kokoa walked over and shook my hand. "Congrats. Maybe you're a worthy opponent after all."

I smiled. "Yup. You better watch out!"

I waved before leaving with Amber and Chestnut to receive our ribbon. The garna ribbon was Red and white with stripes and dots. It was cute.

As I held the ribbon in my palm, a new sense of excitement rushed through me. I blushed as I heard Akako cheer. Looks like he was opening up a bit...

I couldn't wait to see what other surprises would await us on our journey. Little did we know that Tsubaki and Ishi would be waiting for us...


	25. The Answer Folders!

Chapter 25

Bright and early in the morning, much to my dismay, we got up and started down Route 23 towards a place called Aero city. There weren't any gyms or contests there, but we all needed a good relaxing (and possible bonding) session to wind down and enjoy ourselves.

I opened my ribbon case and stared in admiration at my ribbons. All of them unique in their own ways with many different memories.

Oleshire. My first contest and contests win where I stood up the snobby Rin who had four ribbons. A decent first win.

The Ceila robbin. Where I dominated with Kokoa in my first twin contest. Our victory had been guaranteed.

And my newst ribbon from Garna. The first contest where I'd beaten Kokoa in a contest. I'd lost shamefully to her back in Riko. I'd improved a lot though.

I was glad that we'd be taking a break. I needed to do some serious training with my Pokémon. I wanted to evolve them if at all possible.

Amber was now at level 20 which was decent, but far from its final evolution. Chestnut was at level 15. That was ok, but I needed to get it higher. Finally, Ao was at level 18. That was also good, but I'd rejoice if I could get their levels near the thirties. I heard that lots of trainers and Pokémon were battle ready over in Aero.

Akako looked at me. "What's wrong pipsqueak?"

I growled at him. I wasn't that short! I wasn' that much smaller than him! "I'm not a pipsqueak and I'm fine!"

He smirked. "Then why were you zoning out at your ribbon case?"

I snapped the case shut and put it in my bag. "I was just reminiscing a bit. Ribbons hold lots of memories."

Akako looked without understanding at his badge case. "I don't see the big deal. Badges aren't so great. They're just tokens to get you into the real deal competition, the Petilla League."

I sighed. "Well you have your opinion and I have mine."

Kokoa snickered. "You guys sound like an arguing couple. Maybe even an arguing MARRIED couple."

I blushed. "What?!"

Akako just stared at Kokoa. "We aren't going out."

She smiled. "Maybe not yet..."

Before any of us could utter another word, we stopped dead. Tsubaki and Ishi were waiting for us in the middle of the road. We grabbed our pokeballs, but there were no robots or grunts. The only people there were Tsubaki and Ishi.

Ishi smiled at me. "Hey gorgeous. Looks like you've been taking care of yourself."

I snorted at him. "What do you want Mr. Flirt?"

He chuckled. "You shouldn't glare like that. Those daggers might actually kill me."

I laughed. "For the sake of the world's Pokemon, I hope it does kill me."

He frowned. "We actually came here to negotiate."

Kokoa looked suspicious. "Negotiate what exactly?"

Tsubaki looked up. "Did Prof. Pine tell you about us? We believe she knows..."

I thought for a second. "Do you mean...the blackmail?"

Tsubaki nodded. "She's right. We were blackmailed into joining Team Millennium. We want you to help bring this team down."

Akako laughed. 'I was gonna bring you down anyway."

Takuya nodded. "We won't let that group keep having their way."

Tsubaki sighed in relief. "We believe in you. If you can crumble our team, then you can free us. Please help us."

Kokoa nodded. "Sure. I'd love to open up a can of whup ass on my dad. He deserves it."

I nodded. "I want to avenge Kira..."

Tsubaki set down a stack of folders beside her. "These are for you to have. They're some of Millennium's plans and a few secrets we know you'll be interested in..."

Ishi winked at me as Tsubaki and himself began to walk off. "See you later hot stuff!"

I glared at him as they walked away, slowly vanishing. Kokoa was the one to snatch up the files that Tsubaki had laid out. Kokoa's eyes widened as she stared at a folder.

We all ran over and I was the one to ask her, "What is it?"

She showed us the file. In red letters read the name: Chiyo Tsukino. It was a file on Kokoa's mom. Hadn't she disappeared? Did Millennium know where she was? Was she forced into becoming a part of Millennium? I knew Kokoa was curious about the same things.

I looked at her. "Um...are you going to open it?"

Akako smirked. "Or are you planning on staring at it like an idiot all day?"

She hissed at Aka-baka and looked back at the folder, slowly opening it to view its contents. She could find the answers she was looking for.

She smiled slightly, but with a bit of anguish. She was rejoicing and miserable all in one unfamiliar smile.

Takuya was the first to speak up surprisingly. "Do you know where she is?"

Kokoa nodded. "Team Millennium is holding her prisoner in a cell. At a hideout in...Aero."

Woah! Not only were their trainers in Aero, but now we knew that Millennium was hiding out there?! If we could infiltrate successfully, Kokoa's mom could be saved!

Looks like we were heading off to Aero City straight away. Looks like lots of great things would be happening. Levelling up my Pokémon, relaxing with my friends, and finding Kokoa's mom.

I didn't care how dangerous it was and I knew that Kokoa didn't care either. We had to break into their hideout. We had to save Chiyo. Kokoa would have a grand reunion...


	26. Tension In The Air!

Chapter 26

Kokoa started to panic as we walked to Aero. She kept wanting to run ahead, but Takuya pulled her back, trying to force her to calm down. We were all happy that we knew where her mom was, but if we ran into Aero carelessly we wouldn't accomplish anything.

What we needed was a good plan. We needed to find their HQ, figure out where to go, maybe fight off some grunts. This was going to be anything but easy! My "relaxing" trip to Aero just turned into an action movie. When could this author cut me some slack?

Me: Shut up! You're off script!

Ichigo: I'm a part of you ya know! I'm an OC based off of you!

Me: -_-' Just get back to the story. You're probably irritating the readers.

Ichigo: Fine...

Nobody would break the air of tension that was suffocating us all. The newly talkative Akako was returning to his old, dead silent self. I guess I'd have to break the ice myself.

My voice was nervous and shaky. "Um...does anyone have a plan?"  
Kokoa's body seemed to light on fire. "Hell yeah! We set Aero on fire and watch those bastards burn!"

I sweat dropped. "Um...wouldn't that kill your mom too?"

Kokoa snorted. "Shut up! Let's just get over there already! My mom is withering away right now, dammit!"

Takuya sighed. "We need a plan. If you could calm down for a while, we might be able to think."

Kokoa growled. "Can it Takuya! You're starting to piss me off even more than Aka-baka! Speaking of which, why are you so silent?!"

Akako spoke coldly and barely above a whispering. "Bad memories _loiter _around the woods we're walking through..."

I looked over at him worriedly. "What do you mean by bad memories?"

He glared at me. "You sure know how to ask the worst questions."

I would usually get angry with him, but I felt sad instead. "I just want to help you. If you keep all your emotions bottled up, you'll never solve anything."

Akako's eyes were like stone. "Nothing could solve this problem..."

My heart seemed to jerk. There was no longer tension in the air. There was a whole new feeling. A feeling as if someone had just died. What was wrong with Akako?

I would've interrogated him further, but Kokoa exclaimed loudly, interrupting my thoughts. Aero city had finally came into view as we escaped this miserable forest.

"I'm coming mom! Millennium, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

With those few words, Kokoa raced off, grabbing me an dragging me behind her. I left skid marks in the road for Takuya and Akako to follow.

The first thing you saw when you walked into Aero: A literal ROW of trainers waiting for an unsuspecting person to walk by so they could battle. Would we have to fight through all of them? Great! I could rack up some experience!

While I began to battle a trainer, Kokoa raced forward, hissing at them and avoiding them until she reached the end.

"Hurry up with those battles, Ichigo! We've got work to do!"

Just as I was halfway through the fight and gaining experience like no other, Takuya and Akako rushed in and finished off the rest of the trainers.

Takuya looked at me. "We don't have any time to waste. Let's catch up with Kokoa and start looking for their hide out."

I sighed and nodded. My Pokémon had levelled up quite a bit, so this had all been worth it in the end.

I sprinted over to Kokoa where she greeted me with an impatient expression. You really shouldn't keep this girl waiting too long. She could probably strike you down with one evil look.

Akako sighed. "What do we do?"

Kokoa spawned a cane and stomped it down. "I'll tell you what we do! We tear apart this whole damn town and find the idiots that took my mom! If you don't coöperate with me, your body won't coöperate with you anymore if you know what I mean!"

Everyone gulped and saluted, recruiting Kokoa as the leader of this operation. Nobody wanted to get on her bad side at this particular moment in time.

Kokoa sighed. "We'll all split into groups. Takuya and I will take the west. Ichigo and Akako to the east!"

"Of course the wicked witch would go to the west..." I heard Akako mumble.

Soon enough, we all began to split up to find any sign of Millennium and their HQ. If anyone found anything, they'd send a Pokémon off to find the others and take them to the lair.

It was as I was walking with Akako that I realized how nice it was to be around him. I could feel my cheeks burn as I blushed.

I'm not clueless. I'm not dense. I'm not blind. I wouldn't deny it. I was definitely developing a crush on Akako. I wondered how he felt.

There wasn't time to wonder though as a person wearing a lab coat flew by. I would have ignored them if I hadn't seen the infinity sign on the front. It was a Millennium grunt. They could lead us to the lair.

**Sorry that there isn't much action this chapter. It'll heat up next time. Be sure to review! Question: Which character are you the most like? And be honest if you're like the members of Team Millennium. I'll be awaiting your input! Thanks for reading and farewell!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	27. Infiltration!

Chapter 27

I grabbed Akako and pointed to the grunt. Understanding immediately, we silently followed the grunt in hopes he'd lead us to Millennium HQ. And that he did.

We soon came up to a large abandoned building. This must be wear they were hiding. We had to contact Takuya and Kokoa!

Reading my mind, Akako silently called out his Pidgeot and it flew off to find our friends. Now we just had to wait.

I wasn't at all surprised to see Kokoa flying down the street and dragging the helpless Takuya behind her. Even though she was speeding, she was so silent. Takuya and Kokoa ducked down by us.

"How do we get in?" Kokoa whispered.

I laughed silently and nervously. "Weren't you supposed to come up with a plan?"

Kokoa growled. "Whatever. Let's just charge in! We can kick their butts!"

Akako sighed. "If this backfires, it's your fault..."

"Shut up Aka-baka! Let's go!"

The four of us shot up and ran over to their HQ. There was a single grunt standing guard. Kokoa kicked him to the ground and he was knocked out.

Kokoa laughed. "That was too easy. Let's move!"

Kokoa busted through the door and we followed after her. I avoided lots of fallen nails and wooden planks as we ran through. We eventually came to a metal hatch in the floor. Kokoa opened it up, revealing a staircase.

Kokoa descended first. "Come on! Watch your step and be prepared for whatever might be down here."

I nodded and followed behind Kokoa. "Are you sure that this is a good idea? I feel like we should've planned this out."

Akako followed next. "She's gonna kill us all..."

"Shut up Aka-baka!" Kokoa hissed.

Takuya was the last to follow and he carefully closed the hatch. It was dark, so I had ember give us a little light. The stairs looked old and rickety, but they didn't creek as we walked on them. I was scared that we might fall at any minute though.

Noticing my fear, Akako took my hand. I blushed and he didn't really look much different. He never showed much expression which bothered me, yet I knew I liked him.

Kokoa whistled casually as we walked further down. Takuya sighed.

"Do you want us to get caught?"

Kokoa glared at him. "It doesn't matter. I'll kick their asses. Just keep walking."

I sighed. Kokoa seemed so much bossier now that her mom was added to the equation. I sure hate math. I just hoped that Kokoa would cool down some if we found her mother.

We slowly trudges on until we reached the bottom. It felt so good to stand on solid ground instead of those spiral stairs. They made me really dizzy.

Of course, right off the bat, a grunt noticed us and raised a dagger, a robot readying itself beside him. Couldn't anyone cut me some slack? Why did I constantly have to be thrown into battles?

Amber, Ginger, Luxray, and Grovyle were all ready to battle. I noticed Amber blushing at Grovyle as the Pokémon stood cooly with its arms crossed. That's cute. Amber was crushing too.

The man charged forward and Akako and Kokoa both charged at him. Akako twisted the man's arm, causing him to drop the blade, then Kokoa kicked him unconscious.

Meanwhile, Takuya and I charged at the robot with our Pokémon, ripping it apart. We backed away as it exploded with electricity. We had to be careful. More grunts were bound to come.

Kokoa signalled for us to come forward as she peaked around the corner. We all silently ran over and gasped at what we saw. The hallway up ahead was filled with dead Growlithes. The same kind of Growlithes the police would use. I tried not to gag as we walked forward.

My shoes began to stain with blood and I felt tears prick at my eyes. My chest felt heavy. Memories of Kira began to flash through my mind as I walked through the bloody hall. I was about to faint.

Akako caught me as I started to fall. "Are you ok, Ichigo?"

I blushed and got back up. "Yeah...it's just all these bad memories..."

He nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It isn't like it was your fault. Besides, I'm going to bring Millennium down if it's the last thing I do!"

Kokoa laughed. "That's my line."

Takuya squinted his eyes. "I see a light up ahead."

My heart beated fast. "Are any grunts coming?"

He hissed. "I think so. Brace yourselves!"

Takuya was right. What looked like an entire army of grunts began coming at us, victorious smiles on their faces. Out from the army emerged their leader. Akuma Tsukino.

Akuma laughed heartily. "Hello, Kokoa. Have you come to finally join me?"

She spat at him and it landed on his face. He hissed in disgust. "As if I'd join you, you pathetic excuse for a human being! I came here to get my mom back!"

Akuma laughed. "I'm afraid you won't be saving her. As a matter of fact, you'll be joining her in the dungeon. As for your friends here, I'll be taking them."

Akako stood in front of me. "What do you mean you'll be taking us?!"

Akuma smiled the horrible, vile smile of a true villain. "All of you will be joining Team Millennium."

**Since I'm evil, I'll end with a cliffhanger. Sorry for not updating in a while. I've had some serious writer's block. I hope you still liked the chapter even though I haven't come up with too many ideas. Anyway, I hope you have a great day and I hope to update soon! Bye!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	28. HQ escape?

Chapter 28

Akako snarled at him. "Why would we ever join you?!"

Akuma smiled. "Because I know all your weaknesses. Someone take them away! Lock them in a room until I'm ready for them. Except for Kokoa. Put her with her mother..."

Kokoa struggled and screamed very inappropriate things as she was dragged away. Akako swore as well as we were carried off. The last thing I saw before being thrown into a dark room was Akuma's icy smile.

I landed to the ground with a thud as I was thrown into a room with everyone else. It smelled like death. I was about to puke. I felt someone's hand reach me through the darkness.

"Is that you, Ichigo?" Akako asked.

"Yeah."

"Are your Pokémon back in their pokeballs?"

"Duh. I don't want them to be killed."

He sighed. "Just checking."

Takuya was so silent, we weren't sure if he was there. "Are you in here, Takuya?"

"Yup," he responded.

I groaned. "Any ideas on how we get out?"

"No idea," Takuya responded. "Maybe we should wait for Akuma to come, then bail."

Akako sighed. "What if he hand cuffs us or something?"

Takuya groaned. "Then I guess we're screwed."

I sighed. I wanted to bang my head against the wall. I was in a panic. I made a list of all the bad things that were happening: 1) Akuma wanted us to join Millennium and kill our Pokémon. 2) I'm locked in a room with two guys. 3) I'm afraid of the dark. 4) Who knows what was happening with Kokoa. I give this day two thumbs up! Yay for sarcasm!

We didn't have to wait too long until the door creaked open and Akuma walked in. He grabbed my hair and pulled me up. I growled in pain. He took my wrists tightly and tied them together. He did the same to Takuya and Akako.

"Where are you taking us?" I hissed coldly at Akuma. Never in my life had I hated a person more than Akuma.

He snarled. "Just come along. I'm just taking you somewhere we can all talk like the civilized beings we are."

Akako cracked up laughing. "YOU?! CIVILIZED?! HA!"

Akuma growled and tugged us all forward. "Move it. I don't have much time to waste on you."

He led us all into a large white room and set us down at a table. There were shelves lined with food products and a fridge, microwave, and coffee maker as well. It was like a lounge.

"Would you like anything?" Akuma asked, pouring himself some coffee.

Akako hissed through clenched teeth. "Cut the crap. What did you mean when you sad you know our weaknesses?"

Akuma smiled. "Do you want me to tell you one by one? Who wants to know first?"

When no one answered, Akuma walked over to Takuya. "I know about your little crush on my daughter. If she were to join, wouldn't you follow her?"

Takuya hissed quietly and turned away. Akuma smiled in satisfaction and walked up to me. He played with my hair and Akako slapped him, a furious look upon his face.

Akuma laughed. "You don't see your parents often, right? And you don't get along too well, but would you want to join if I were to threaten their lives?"

My heart slowed as I thought of what he might do to them. I clenched my hands together tightly. Akako glared at Akuma, wanting to strike him dead.

Akuma then approached Akako. "HE was killed by Pokémon wasn't he? Can't you sympathize with us?"

Him? Who was him? What was Akuma talking about? Was this the person Akako had been talking about? The one he'd lost...to a Pokémon?

Akako slammed his fist down on the table, his eyes actually tearing up. Akako? Crying? He hissed.

"Shut up!" he screamed. "You don't know anything!"

Akuma smiled. "Oh, but I do. Ever since the first day you messed with Millennium, I've had Tsubaki gather information on you. Speaking of which, it seems to have disappeared. Did she give it to you?"

I didn't want Tsubaki to get hurt. What might happen to her if he knew she'd given us those folders? "No, she didn't! We took it."

Akuma sighed in irritation. "All of you are such thorns in my side. Join me before I have to force you..."

Just then Kokoa smashed into the room, followed by what looked like an older version of her. It looked like she might be Kokoa's mother.

"We're busting out of here!" she shouted, throwing down a smoke bomb.

I felt a hand take mine as I was led out of the smoke. It's was Akako's hand. Everyone made it out of the smoke and I heard Akuma coughing. We started to run, knowing that grunts would soon be chasing us.

I heard lots of peoples' footsteps echoing through the halls as a heard of grunts came charging after us.

I screamed as the began throwing knives and other weapons at us. Akako called out a new Pokémon. A Jolteon. He had it electrify the weapons the grunts were holding, electrocuting the people. Then, he c alled out his Pidgeot.

He hopped on it, flying up the stairs. I called out Amber, having her carry me up piggyback style. Kokoa rode on her Ninetales, Takuya rode Luxray, and Kokoa's mom hopped on a Gogoat.

With the speed of our Pokémon, we ascended the stairs very quickly, making our way out of the building. We ran over to a hotel, renting a room. It was only then that we sat down and talked.

Kokoa's mom smiled at us. "Hello. I'm Chiyo Tsukino, but I'm sure you could've guessed that. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

Chiyo looked as if she were starving. I wonder what Akuma was doing with her? Probably just torturing her needlessly. The goo thing about this whole experience was that our mission had been completed. Kokoa's mom had been rescued.

* * *

Happy Thanksgiving for those who are reading today! I just wanted to let you guys know that I've set up a poll where you can vote for which OC characters should appear more often. You haven't met the champion yet, but they're a choice. Please vote! Anyway, enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey and pie! Bye!

-IchigoHatake


	29. New Items!

Chapter 29

Now that we were safe inside a hotel room, we all started to talk. Chiyo was the first to speak.

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

I smiled. "No problem, but how did you two escape?"

Chiyo and Kokoa both smiled secretively. "That's our little secret."

Akako rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Anyway...uh...Mrs. Tsukino-"

Chiyo smiled. "Just call me Chiyo."

Akako nodded. "Ok...Chiyo. You look like you're starving. We could order room service..."

Before she could answer, her stomach growled and she blushed. "Yes. That'd be great."

Akako ran off to order food while the rest of us crowded in. Takuya oured some coffee, offering some to Chiyo. She gladly took it, Takuya and her sipping contently.

I looked over at Chiyo. "Why were you being held captive like that by Akuma?"

Chiyo hissed, clenching her coffee mug tightly. "That man is just insane. He's obsessive and didn't want me to leave him, so he kidnapped me. Akuma needs to be taken out and I think you kids are just the people to do it."

Akako was now heading back over, interested in our conversation. Ever since the day Kira...died, Akako has had a massive hatred for Team Millennium. If he had the chance to, I know he'd put Akuma in his place.

Chiyo pulled out a small bag. "I'd been protecting these inventions from Akuma since he'd snapped. I want you to take them."

Out of the bag, she pulled out four, diamond-shaped, glowing crystals. Each of them was a different color.

Chiyo handed me a pink one, Takuya got a grey one, Akako got a gold one, and Kokoa was handed a white one.

"What are these?" asked Takuya. Even Kokoa looked confused.

"They're my special crystals," Chiyo began to explain. "It'll warn you when you come into contact with a powerful Pokémon. I hid them from Akuma to save the legendaries."

Suddenly, the crystal began sinking into my hand. The same was happening to everyone else. I was about to panic, but Chiyo calmed us down.

"Relax. Just let it sink in. You can call it out when you need to use it and this way, Millennium won't obtain them too easily."

When they finally sank in, there was a knock on the door. Takuya got up to answer it. A man wheeled in a food cart.

"Room service! That'll be $70.65."

I widened my eyes at Akako. "How much food did you order?!"

Akako shrugged. "Relax. I've got the money. I've won plenty of trainer battles."

Akako pulled out his wallet and gave the money to the room service guy. The man thanked him, then left us alone with the large cart of food. My mouth began to water.

Kokoa pulled something off of a food case. It was a container with a note on top. "What's this?"

It was a note. She read it for us all to hear.

_Dear Ichigo and friends,_

_Thank you for trying to help us out. In return for all you've done, we wanted to give you each a gift. There should be four pokeballs in a case. Choose which Pokémon each of you would like. Also, I wanted to let you know there should be a contest going on in Gilder and there's a gym as well. And if I could ask one last favor of you, could you check up on a girl named Angel in Gilder hospital? Thank you._

_-Tsubaki_

Kokoa opened the container and removed said pokeballs. She threw them all up in the air, calling out the Pokémon they contained.

A Servine, Hoppip, Gabite, and Marill were revealed. I smiled. They all looked so cool and cute and one of them would be mine to keep.

Kokoa immediately grabbed Servine. "I claim this one!"

Takuya shrugged and walked up to Gabite. "I'll take this one then."

There were only two choices left. Marill or Hoppip. I felt a bit sorry for Akako. Both of these seemed like girly Pokémon.

I turned to Akako. "Um...do you want either of them?"

He sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter. A Pokémon is still a Pokémon. I'll find a way to use whatever Pokémon I get. You can choose."

I considered it for a while, then picked up Marill. "I'd like this one! I'll call you...Cuddles."

Akako picked up the small Hoppip. Hoppip smiled cutely and hugged him. He laughed a bit awkwardly. "Maybe you aren't that bad after all."

"Hoppip!" it responded happily.

Kokoa laughed. "Wow. Didn't think a living being could like Aka-baka."

Akako rolled his eyes. I looked back at Chiyo, noticing she'd finished her meal. She stood up and stretched.

"Well kids, I should get going. I'm going to tell what I know to the police."

Kokoa looked sad. "Wait! I want to talk with you more."

Chiyo smiled weakly. "I do too, but I need to inform the police about Millennium. We can't let Akuma do as he pleases."

Kokoa nodded in understanding. "Bye mom..."

Chiyo tried to smile. "See ya later, kiddo. Take care of those crystals and be careful."

And with that, we were left alone with our thoughts. I sighed and headed out onto the balcony. Akako followed me out, leaning on the edge.

I decided to ask him. "Akako...who is it that you lost?"

**Mwahaha. I'll leaving you hanging since I'm evil like that. Please vote on my poll so I can see which characters you'd like me to have show up more. Thank you and good-bye for now!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	30. Balcony Romance?

Chapter 30

Akako looked over at me, a bit surprised that I'd referred back to his past. He took on a faraway gaze.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked.

I shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know. It just seems to be weighing on your mind a lot. It's usually better to talk about your problems instead of bottling them up..."

Akako sighed. "My brother..."

"Huh?"

"Millennium was talking about my brother. His name was Akito. He...died a while back. Akito was my younger brother. A Pokémon killed him..."

My heart slowed. A Pokémon can killed him? Now I knew what Akuma meant when he said that Akako could sympathize with them. So a Pokémon had killed his own flesh and blood...

Akako gripped the side of the balcony hard. "The Pokémon that had killed Akito was a Graveler. I'll never forget that. I hate Graveler. Akito was younger than me and had such a bright future. We'd been really close. He wanted to grow up to be just like me...Anyway, you might've noticed I'm not the best with people. I guess I just don't want to bond with anyone and get hurt again..."

I laughed a bit. "I never realized how sensitive you are..."

Akako grunted. "Don't get too used to it. It'll disappear again soon enough..."

I frowned. "I don't want it to disappear. It's nice to know how you feel. I don't like the stone wall you usually pretend to be..."

He snarled. "Whatever. I'm not some girly sensitive guy. That's stupid."

"Not to me it isn't."

Akako looked over at me, a bit surprised. I felt my cheeks flame with the usual intensity I got whenever I was near him. Near Akako. My heart sped up, leaping up. I felt so light headed. It felt nice. It felt nice to know how Akako felt. And he trusted me enough to tell me about his brother.

He started to blush too. "Is something wrong? You're all red and you seem shaky. Um...maybe you should get to bed?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine. Actually, there's something I want to tell you..."

He nodded. "Sure. What do you want to say?"

I brought my hands up to my chest, feeling my advanced heart beat. I took a deep breath, still blushing. I looked into Akako's eyes, which sparkled in the moonlight. Now was the time to tell him.

"Akako, we've known each other for a while now..."

He nodded. "Yeah..."

I smiled a bit. "Well, I've had a lot of fun travelling with you. You were always there for me, even if you were silent. You helped me whenever Millennium striked, cheered me on at contests, and helped me when I was afraid. Thank you."

Akako nodded. "It was no big deal. Isn't that what friends do?"

"Yeah, but that isn't what I wanted to tell you..."

He smiled warmly. "What is it then?"

I blushed even more. "Akako...I like you..."

His eyes widened. "Ichigo...you like me? As in...love?"

I blushed even more. "Yeah..."

He sighed sadly. "I'm sorry Ichigo, but can't return your feelings right now. I just can't really bond with anyone right now..."

My eyes began to sting with tears. "I see...I guess you're still hung up on your brother's death..."

He nodded and placed his warm hand on my shoulder. "I'm not rejecting you though. Eventually, I'll be able to open up to people again. When I do, I'd like you to ask me again, ok?"

I felt my blush return as I gazed into his eyes. His eyes weren't as cold as usual they seemed more caring. He smiled kindly at me. A smile that I hoped to see again sometime soon. Then, out of the blue, he kissed my forehead. My eyes widened in surprise and I burned a brighter red. I felt his warm breath as he pulled away.

He brushed my bangs out of my eyes. "Good night, Ichigo."

He left me in a daze as he left with Takuya to go into their room. This time we'd been able to get two separate rooms.

I leaned against the balcony, staring out at the stars and finally managing to catch my breath. Akako sure knew how to mess me up. I liked it though. The way he made me feel. It was so warm and unlike any other emotion. One day, I wanted him to return these feelings.

Kokoa finally shooed me off the balcony and sent me to bed, reminding me of the contest going on in Gilder. I smiled, thinking of Akako, as I laid in bed.

Tomorrow would be a big day. I was excited. With all these new cities came new adventures with Akako. I'm sure it would be great. But for now, I'd go to sleep...

* * *

I know this chapter's a bit shorter than usual, but I hope the cheerfulsilenceshipping romance makes up for a bit of that. Anyway, I'd like to thank Joe for his reviews and support on my story. Don't die, I have now updated. Also, I'd like everyone to vote on a poll on my profile for which characters should appear more in the story. Be ready. The next chapter will be packed with more excitement. Good-bye for now!

-IchigoHatake


	31. The Girl in a Coma!

Chapter 31

I reread the note Tsubaki had given us as we marched over to Gilder. It said to check up on a girl named Angel at Gilder hospital. Where had I heard that name before? Angel...

_Flashback_

_Pine nodded. "I think these kids re being blackmailed into being a part of Team Millennium. My theory is that they promised Ishi that they'd help Angel, a girl in a coma, if he helped them."_

_Flashback End_

Angel...a girl in a coma? I wonder how she relates to Ishi. And if she's Ishi's blackmail into joining Millennium, will her hospital room be guarded by grunts? I had to tell everyone about this.

"Hey guys! I just realized something..."

_One Explanation later..._

The gang nodded in understanding and Kokoa sighed. "What'll we do if she's guarded or if there are no visitors allowed or something."

I grabbed something out of my pocket. A small scrap of paper. "Tsubaki left me this address. She should be over in Gilder waiting for us. She said she'd lead us some Millennium outfit to get in and visit her."

Kokoa smiled her usual devious smile. "Another infiltration mission. Nice."

Takuya sighed. "Those guys sure don't make things easy for us..."

Akako nodded in agreement. "Let's just hurry to Gilder and get things over with."

"Yeah. Let's go," I said, speeding up my pace. Soon enough, we arrived in the big city.

Takuya grabbed a few maps that we sitting out and handed one to each of us. I looked down at mine, looking for directions to the hospital.

"Aha!" I said, pointing to its location. Everyone looked at where I was pointing.

"Not that far," said Takuya, a bit relieved.

I nodded in agreement. "But first, we need to go to the rendezvous point with Tsubaki. It should be just down this alley."

We all walked casually through the alleyway, looking for a building labeled B14. At last, we found the building. I knocked on the front entrance and the door creaked open, revealing Tsubaki. She ushered us in.

Tsubaki kicked a box over to us. Kokoa ripped it open and tossed us each a Millennium uniform. The usual white lab coat marked with an infinity sign.

I felt my stomach knot up as I put it on. I could almost smell the blood that must have once stained this uniform. I clenched my teeth together tightly, fighting back the bad memories that were flooding in.

Akako looked over at me worriedly. I forced a smile. I would be fine. No need to get anyone worried.

Tsubaki brushed some dust off my ourfit. "Great. Girls, just put your hair up and you'll look like grunts."

I noticed Tsubaki kept her short hair back with barettes. Kokoa pulled out a ponytail and threw her hair up in a pony tail. I grabbed a ponytail of my own and braided by hair back, letting my bangs hang freely.

Tsubaki smiled. "Perfect. You should all get going now before visiting hours at the hospital are up."

Kokoa nodded and pushed us out. "Thanks for all the help, Tsubaki!"

She smiled. "No. Thank all of you. Akuma refuses to let Ishi visit Angel, so this should be a big help."

I smiled and waved good-bye. "We'll report back soon! Bye!"

All of us marched over to the hospital, waltzing in casually. A nurse cowered in fear as we walked in, pointing us to a room. We all nodded and walked over. Four grunts guarded the door and sighed in relief once we arrived.

"Here to relieve us?" one of them asked.

Kokoa nodded calmly. "Yes. I'm sure Akuma has some duties for you to attend to elsewhere."

They all nodded, handing us spears to use to stand guard. Then, they walked away. Did Millennium use force and fear to do everything? Spears? Really?

Kokoa looked over at me. "We'll look out, Ichigo. Can you check up on Angel?"

I nodded. "Sure thing."

I pulled open the door, then closed it behind me. I smelled many unfamiliar medicines and such as I walked in. I approached a large white bed with a girl lying on it.

She looked just like her name. Like an angel. She was pretty. She had long, light pink hair that ran almost to her waist. She was in hospital pajamas, but they suited her. Her eyes were closed because she was in a coma of course, but she was so pretty. I wonder how Ishi knew her.

There were tubes and a breathing mask attached to her to keep her alive. I felt sorry for her and Ishi both. She'd die depending on Ishi's choices. How sad...

Her heart monitor beeped steadily. It looked like she was doing just fine. I smiled and turned to leave until I heard a quiet moan.

I turned around to face Angel once more. I saw her eyes fluttering open. Once they'd opened, she gasped in fear at me.

Her voice was quiet and sweet. "Please don't hurt me..."

I was confused. "What do you mean? Why would I hurt you?"

Her eyes got teary. "The last time I woke up, you bastards knocked me back into my coma. Just let Ishi and me go!"

So Angel had woken up before and Team Millennium...put her back into her coma. These people really were monsters.

I smiled at her. "Don't be afraid. I'm not really a member of Millennium. I'm one of Ishi's friends. He flirts with me all the time."

She laughed. "That does sound like him..."

I nodded. "Such a pig. But anyway, maybe my friends and I can break you out of here."

Angel looked hopeful. "You can?!"

I nodded. "Sure thing. My name's Ichigo by the way. You're Angel, right?"

She nodded in response.

"Then get ready for a jail break."

* * *

Did you forget about Angel when I'd mentioned her before? Well, now I've reminded you. So she's the girl that Ishi is being blackmailed about. A jail break? Get ready for a bit of action. Well, I hope you all enjoyed. See you later!

-IchigoHatake


	32. Hayato: Millennium Commander!

Chapter 32

I told Angel to stay put, then ran out to meet my friends. They all looked over at me curiously.

"Angel's awake," I whispered. Their eyes widened. "We need to break her out of here otherwise Millennium will knock her back into her coma if you know what I mean."

Kokoa sighed. "Another rescue mission? Alright, just grab her and I'll watch for any grunts."

We all filed in one by one. Akako and Takuya analyzed Angel once they set eyes on her. I noticed she had tied back her pink hair in two long braids. I also noticed now that she'd woken up, that she had light grey eyes. The reminded me of Ishi's eyes.

I took her hand and pulled her along. "Come on! The coast should be clear."

"Alright," she replied weakly. I noticed her blushing slightly and looked over where she was gazing. She looked over at Akako. I shrugged it off and kept leading her along and out the door.

Kokoa scanned her quickly then lead us forward. She peeked around the corner then cursed in frustration.

"What's wrong?" I asked, whispering.

"We've got company," she replied with a hiss.

"Who is it?" asked Takuya, ready to fight.

Kokoa took another look. "It looks like a Millennium commander. Two grunts are following behind him. If the grunts are hard to fight off, I can't imagine what a commander would be like."

Angel shook in fear, looking over at the male commander. He had dark green, messy hair and cold blue eyes. Instead of a lab coat, he wore a black suit with a bullet proof vest and arm and knee pads. The infinity sign was clearly printed on its front.

At first, it seemed as if he hadn't noticed us, but then, all of a sudden, he threw a shuriken our way. Kokoa pulled back her head, the blade cutting a few strands of hair. She hissed.

"Looks like we can't avoid this fight. Protect Angel at all costs."

Kokoa took these battles seriously. As if they were wars. She refused to lose and wanted as little casualties on our side as possible. I couldn't think of a better person to lead us.

Angel shrieked and hid behind Akako as another weapon was flung at us. Flung at ME to be precise. It grazed my arm as I dodged, leaving a bleeding scratch.

Angel started to panic and hugged onto Akako, eyes tearing up. Looks like I wasn't the only one who had a crush on Akako.

I picked up the knife had been thrown at me and put it in my bag. I'd use it for self defense if needed.

Kokoa and Takuya launched right into the fight, having conveyed a battle plan to each other. Takuya kicked the commander's legs out from under him, then Kokoa jabbed him in the stomach.

The commander hissed throwing knives at the both of them. Kokoa and Takuya dodged, running back over to us.

The commander wiped some blood from the side of his mouth. "How rude. Let me introduce myself before you just kill me. My name is Hayato. I'm the commander of the A squad of Millennium. I assume you four are what the grunts have been calling the Ferocious four. I can see why. That blue haired...you are a girl right? The blue haired girl is definitely ferocious."

"Watch it!" Kokoa hissed in disgust.

Hayato laughed. "Aren't you Akuma's daughter? There's quite a bounty for your capture. For the rest of you too. I'll capture you and then-" He turned to Angel. "I'll get you back in BED."

Angel stifled a scream, clearly remembering something he might've done to her before. She held Akako tightly. I had to admit, I was a bit jealous, but knew she was afraid. I'd go to Akako if I was afraid.

I ripped off my Millennium lab coat, relieved that I wouldn't have to wear it anymore. The others did the same. Akako slipped away from Angel to help us fight. Angel hid behind a pillar.

I narrowed my eyes at Hayato. "You bastard! Don't get too cocky now because we're gonna kick your ass! You deserve everything's that's coming to you for kidnapping Angel!"

He smirked. "I wouldn't call it kidnapping. Akuma just wanted me to keep her safe. We don't want Ishi to abandon us. His ability to sense Pokémon is so very useful."

"Shut your damn mouth! What sickens me most about you Millennium goers is that people like you join WILLINGLY! I'm going to make you pay for those Pokémon you've killed!"

I heard Kokoa laugh. "I've rubbed off on you. Alright team. Let's kick him all the way to the Kanto region!"

The two grunts were easy pickings. Akako and I teamed up, nailing both of them with a hard kick to the face and knocking them out.

Noticing his friends had been taken out so easily, Hayato called out five robots to attack. We all called out all our Pokémon.

Amber, Ao, Chestnut, and Cuddles each worked together, blowing apart one of the five robots.

Akako's Grovyle, Hoppip, Pidgeot, Larvitar, and Jolteon all moved swiftly and with great accuracy, easily breaking apart the dumb robots.

Takuya's Luxray, Pawniard, Axew, and Gabite struck with strategized movements, cutting the robots into metal sheets.

Kokoa took on two robots, blowing one up with Ginger, Ruru, Pilot, and her newly nicknamed Servine, Asmodeus, to blow up one. And Zororark shredded up a robot all on its own.

Hayato growled, calling out more and more robots. Soon, we were overwhelmed. The more robots we broke, the more would come in. At this rate, we'd lose.

Just then, Angel stepped out onto the battle field, holding four pokeballs. She tossed them up, revealing her team.

Her starter Pokémon was a Quilladin, a starter from Kalos. It looked kinds chubby and cute. Her second Pokémon was a Honedge, which looked like a sheath and sword. The third was a Pancham, a cute panda Pokémon. Finally, a Pokémon that looked newly caught, was a Flabebe. It was a tiny Pokémon gripping a flower. It looked like Angel had moved here from Kalos.

With all these Pokémon on our side, would we be able to win this fight?

* * *

New possible shipping!

Akako/Angel Silentangelshipping

Note: I'm taking up Skitty13's challenge of writing a chapter for a story each day of December. All of them will be one-shots with all possible shippings I've made here. It should be up later today, so check it out! Anyway, bye for now.

-IchigoHatake


	33. New Girl!

Chapter 33

Angel's Pokémon fought their best, but the robots were overpowering us. There were too many of them and they eventually adapted to our attacks, making them ineffective. It looked like this was the end.

Just then, lots of familiar faces came in to help us. Ishi, Tsubaki, Miku, Kohaku, and some unfamiliar girl broke through the walls.

"What are you doing here?!" Akako screamed over at Tsubaki and Ishi.

Ishi smiled. "I sensed some familiar Pokémon moving about. Angel woke up, right?"

Akako nodded and Tsubaki smiled. "Ishi also sensed danger, so we came in to help."

"Traitors!" Hayato shouted, but no one paid attention to him.

I looked at Miku and Kohaku. "And what are you guys doings here?"

Kohaku answered, "Our friend here-" He gestured to the new girl. "-Sensed danger, so she thought we should help."

Miku smiled and blushed. "I'm glad we came. Now I can see lots of hot guys fighting."

I rolled my eyes and Ishi came over to help me. "Hey, beautiful. Need some assistance?"

I pushed him away from me. "Keep your distance lover boy. You're making someone jealous."

I'd been referring to Tsubaki, who looked down at us a bit sadly, but Ishi wasn't sure who I meant. He shrugged it off, taking a metal scrap and playing baseball with the robots.

Tsubaki sighed and took on an evil smile. Tsubaki, Kokoa, Kohaku, and the new girl all charged at Hayato. Kokoa pinned him to the ground, laughing in his face. Kohaku held down his legs, trying to keep him from breaking free. The new girl held down his head. Tsubaki walked over, hitting his head in a certain spot.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked in confusion.

Kohaku explained. "Tsubaki just hit him at a certain point to make him forget what's happened for the last several minutes."

Tsubaki nodded. "He can't think of us as traitors. There's still some spying we need to do. And if he knew we were traitors, Kohaku and Ishi would both suffer. I don't want that."

I nodded in understanding, then turned to the new girl. She had long, silver hair tied in two long pigtails. You could barely see her bangs because they were covered by a black top hat. She had on a red bow tie and her shirt was also red. However, the buttons and two pockets were black and the bottom half was black as well. Her pants were black on the left and red on the light. She wore black boots and she had gloves on from a little lower than her shoulder all the way down to her finger tips. The gloves were red except for a black stripe at the beginning. Here eyes matched her hair. She looked like a magician.

I smiled at her. "Hi. I don't think we've met before. I'm Ichigo. What's your name?"

She smiled, taking off her top hat and pulling out a rose bouquet. She gave them to me, then placed her hat back on her head. "My name's Marci. Nice to meet you."

Takuya stared at her. "You seem familiar..."

Marci giggled. "Any well rounded trainer should know who I am if they've done their research."

Akako also tried to remember. "Hm..."

Kokoa's eyes sparked in remembrance. "No way! You're-"

Marci finished her sentence. "Marci. Champion of the Petilla Region."

Everyone was happily surprised except for Miku and Kohaku who'd known that all along. Akako smirked.

"If you're the champion, how about a battle?"

Marci pulled a spary bottle from thin air and sprayed him. "It wouldn't be right just to battle you. I'm sure everyone else here would like a good fight."

Tsubaki nodded. "Ishi and I actually raised one Pokémon each in secret."

Ishi nodded, pulling out his Pokeball. He tossed it up, revealing a Charizard. Tsubaki's pokeball revealed an Empoleon.

Marci smiled in delight. "I have an idea. How about everyone here competes in a tournament using only their Pokémon partner?"

Angel looked nervous. "But I'm a coordinator..."

So she was a coordinator too? I nodded. "I'm also a coordinator."

Marci shrugged. "So? Wouldn't it still be fun to compete? The winner, of course, will get to battle me."

Takuya looked pleased. 'I'm going to win."

Kokoa sneered at him. "No way. I'll easily crush all of you."

Akako grinned as well. "This win is mine alone."

Tsubaki smiled. "This should be fun."

Ishi nodded. "I'll do my best to win this."

Angel shrugged. "If Ishi's doing it, I will."

That reminded me. "Hey, Angel? Before we start, I was wondering. You and Ishi have the same eyes. Are you related in some way?"

She smiled. "Actually, we're not, but Ishi and I used to all think I was his long lost sister. Ishi and I have been friends for a long time. He's kind of like my loving older brother."

I nodded. "Alright."

Marci looked over at all of us. "Are you guys ready?"

I shook my head. "There are seven of us. How will this work?"

Marci smiled. "One of you will just fight one more match. Will that work?"

We all shrugged and nodded.

She clapped her hands together. "Great! Let the show begin!"

* * *

Possible new shipping?

Ishi/Angel= siblingshipping

Please check out my story, December Love, which I'll update daily with new one-shots of all possible shippings in my story. So far, I've written one on tempershipping. Be ready for a new one today. Bye for now.

-IchigoHatake


	34. Tournament Part One!

Chapter 34

Just as Marci was about to have us begin the tournament, a certain someone rushed over. Rin?

"No way! You're the champion!" she squealed. "Could I battle you?"

Marci laughed. "Would you guys mind adding someone to the tournament? The numbers will be even now."

Rin looked confused, then turned to us, she frowned when she saw me. I frowned right back at her.

I sighed. "One person can't hurt. If she's paired against me, she'll be knocked right out anyway."

Takuya and Akako both looked confused. Kokoa sighed. "That's Rin. She's the girl Ichigo competed against in her first contest."

Rin nodded. "That's right. And after my defeat with Ichigo, I couldn't win another contest. That's why I came to Gilder. To get my fifth ribbon."

Angel smiled. "I'm competing for my fifth ribbon too!"

Angel had gotten 4 ribbons? It was possible. She could've won those before being launched into a coma.

Kokoa nodded. "My fifth is at hand as well."

I blushed nervously. "If I win, it'll be my 4th ribbon."

I was a bit behind them, but that didn't matter. I was going to win this contest for sure!

Marci clapped her hands together to get our attention. "Are we going to chat or battle?"

"Battle!" we all responded.

She smiled. "Great. Just to be clear, these will be one on one battles and you may only use your partner. The only time you'll be able to use more than one Pokémon, will be in an unofficial three on three battle with me if you win. Here are the matches..."

Takuya Vs. Akako

Kokoa Vs. Rin

Ichigo Vs. Angel

Tsubaki Vs. Ishi

Miku Vs. Kohaku

Marci smiled. "Any objections?"

Nobody spoke, so she smiled. "Let's have our first two competitors get into position."

Takuya took the left side of the field while Akako took the right. Both of them looked confident as they stared each other down.

"Let the battle begin!" shouted Marci, blowing a whistle she pulled out of thin air. She really was like a magician.

"Grovyle go!" Akako called out, sending forth his trusty friend.

"Luxray!" called out Takuya.

Amber, who was always out of her pokeball, stared at Grovyle, blushing. Pokémon love was so cute!

Takuya took the first move. "Luxray, use crunch!"

Luxray zoomed at Grovyle quickly, taking it in its jaws and using a powerful crunch. Grovyle hissed in pain.

"Leaf blade now!" Akako called out.

Grovyle arm lit up with a bright green color. Grovyle slammed its arm into Luxray, damaging it and pushing it away. Grovyle grinned happily.

Takuya narrowed his eyes at Akako. 'There's no way I'll let you win this."

Akako laughed. "Funny. I was going to say that to you. I'm going to be the one to challenge the champion."

Takuya growled. "We'll see. Luxray, hyper beam now!"

Luxray shot out a powerful beam of light at Grovyle.

"Dodge!" commanded Akako.

Grovyle tried to dodge, but the attack grazed it, diminishing a bit of his HP. Amber squawked in worry.

"Counter attack with pound!"

Grovyle pounded into Luxray hard, causing it to growl. Luxray wanted badly to attack, but it was unable to after using hyper beam.

"One more pound!" called out Akako.

"Dodge!" hissed Takuya.

The attack hit Luxray's leg, leaving a mark. Luxray wobbled a bit as it got back on its feet, its leg burning in pain.

"We can win this, Luxray!" Takuya called out. "Now! Use giga impact!"

Takuya had taught Luxray lots of powerful, but dangerous moves. The moves were high in power, but would cause the Pokémon to be unable to attack for a while. If this missed, Takuya's efforts would be in vain.

Luckily for him, Luxray plowed straight into Grovyle, earning a satisfying pained grunt from the Pokémon. Grovyle fell to the ground.

"Don't let it get up!" commanded Takuya.

Luxray pinned Grovyle to the ground with its paws. Grovyle tried to break free, but Luxray was too strong.

"Come on Grovyle!" Akako called out. "Solar beam!"

Now it was all up to the time limit. Would solar beam charge fast enough or would Luxray be able to attack again? It might all come down to this.

"Let it fly!" called Akako.

"Thunder fang!" said Takuya at the same time.

The battle field blew up with a gorgeous yellow glow, electricity sparking through it. Which Pokémon had one? Would Takuya or Akako advance? All was revealed as the smoke cleared.

It had been a very close battle, but someone had to win it. Grovyle was standing, while Luxray lay defeated on the ground. Grovyle was breathing heavily, about ready to give in. It really had been a good match.

"Nice one, Grovyle," said Akako, giving an oran berry to his friend.

Amber smiled and ran over, hugging Grovyle. Grovyle blushed and scratched his head. Takuya sighed.

"It was a fluke that you won, so enjoy victory while it lasts."

Akako sighed. "Whatever."

Marci smiled and cleared the two off the battle field. "Let's jump right into the second match! Kokoa and Rin! You're up!"

Kokoa and Rin? That would be interesting. Two great coordinators against each other. Of course, my money was on Kokoa, but anything could happen on that forsaken battle field and I'd watch every minute of it.

* * *

Note: I just wanted to note that Marci is the same age as the other protagonists in case I forgot to mention that. Also, in reference to Servine's nickname Asmodeus. It is a reference to a book called Red Wall with a snake character known as Asmodeus. Since Servine evolves into a snake, I thought I'd nickname it that. Also, please check out my story December Love where there will be one shots with shippings from this story. Thank you.

-IchigoHatake


	35. Tournament Part Two!

Chapter 35

Rin and Kokoa both clutched their pokeballs tightly, waiting for Marci's signal. My heart beat in anticipation. This might end up to be an exciting match.

Marci threw up her arms. "Match begin!"

Rin swirled around, elegantly tossing out her Ivysaur. Kokoa smirked and threw out her Ninetales. Kokoa had the clear advantage, but how would Rin react?

She answered my question quickly. "Use sleep powder!"

Ivysaur puffed out a cloud of sparkling sleep dust, Ginger tried to avoid it, but ending up inhaling it in the end. The Pokémon stumbled around dizzily before finally succumbing to sleep.

Rin smiled triumphantly. "Fling that Ninetales around with your vine whip!"

Ivysaur wrapped its vines around Ginger, picking her up. Then, he tossed her around like a rag doll, shaking her up and slamming her into the ground.

Kokoa hissed in anger. "Dammit. I don't have anything to wake her up..."

Rin cackled. "Looks like my victory is guaranteed. I'll finally get a shot at battling Marci! She's my idol."

Rin must have jinxed her win because Ninetales soon woke up. Kokoa smiled and laughed.

"Flamethrower!"

Ginger cried out and shot a line of flames at Ivysaur, freeing herself from its grasp. She then looked to her trainer for further instructions.

Kokoa smiled. "Use confuse ray."

Kokoa shot the move at Ivysaur, confusing it. It ran around in circles, unsure of what to do now. Rin began to panic.

"Calm down, Ivysaur! Just use poison powder!"

Ivysaur did manage to shoot out poison powder, however, it was showered all over itself. Ivysaur groaned as it fell to the ground, fainting.

Rin whined. "No! And we were doing so well..."

Marci smiled at her. "You put up a good fight. That's something to be proud of, right?"

Rin nodded in agreement and called Ivysaur back into its pokeball. Kokoa did the same and walked off the battle field. My heart raced as I realized I was up now. Me Vs. Angel.

Angel walked up nervously, looking a bit shy. "I don't really battle that often..."

I smiled. "I'm sure you'll be great. I don't battle unless necessary either. I prefer contests much more."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Good luck in this battle."

I smiled brighter. "Good luck to you too."

Marci smiled and shouted out, "Begin!"

I didn't need to throw up my pokeball. Since Amber had already been out of her pokeball, she just ran out to the field, meeting up with Angel's Quilladin.

Angel decided to take the first move. "Needle arm!"

Quilladin arms spiked up like needles, but even though it hit Amber, it didn't do too much damage. Now it was time to counter.

"Use overheat!" I called out.

Amber built up lots of energy then shot it out at Quilladin. The good thing about this move was that it kept getting stronger each time, but it would take longer to charge. I could make this work though...

"Pin missile!" Angel commanded.

Little rocket of light descended upon Amber. Knowing what to do, she dodged elegantly, making it look almost like a dance.

Then, it was our turn again. "Overheat again!"

It shot out at a slower rate, but damaged Quilladin far more. The chubby Pokémon was starting to look a bit beat up.

"Take down!" Angel called out desperately.

Quilladin started coming at us.

"Counter with sky uppercut!" I called out.

Both attacks collided, exploding with beauty. Both Pokémon stood, breathing heavily as the light dimmed away.

"Body slam!" Angel called out, trying to take us out while we were weak.

I wouldn't let her win. "Double kick!"

As Quilladin fell down on Amber, she kicked it in the gut, sending it flying across the field. Quilladin then fainted.

Angel sighed. "That was pretty bad..."

I shook my head. "You did pretty well. The type advantage really took over though."

Angel took a mental note of that. "I have a long way to go though."

I shrugged. "You're a coordinator and I think that was decent battling for a coordinator."

She smiled. "I could say the same about your battle technique."

"Oi!" I heard Kokoa hiss and shout at the same time. "Are you guys gonna talk or clear the field?! I wanna see Tsubaki and Ishi tear each other to shreds! Don't make me come out there."

Angel flinched in fear. "Is she always like that?"

"Absolutely," I answered immediately. There are some people who'll never change.

"I'm about to come over there!" she shouted again, cracking her knuckles.

I laughed and grabbed Angel's wrist. "We should go before that angry Ursaring attacks."

She smiled and laughed. "Yeah."

I led her off the battle field, rolling my eyes at Kokoa. She huffed and grinned excitedly as Tsubaki and Ishi made their way onto the field. They both looked a bit nervous.

"Go Tsubaki!" I called out. I wanted her to win. She was nice and wasn't a totla flirt like Ishi.

"Go Ishi! You can beat her!" Angel called out. Obviously she'd want Ishi to win. They were pretty close.

Tsubaki smiled awkwardly at Ishi. "Um...let's both do our best. If I end up losing, I'm glad it'll be to you."

Ishi smiled. "Don't underestimate yourself. If you can hack so well, I'm sure you can handle a Pokémon battle. Besides, Empoleon a water type and my Charizard's fire. Just make use of what you've got."

Tsubaki smiled and blushed. "Right..."

Just before Marci began the match, I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder. Akako.

"You battled well," he complimented me. "If we're paired up, there's no way I'll let you win."

I blushed, feeling the warmth of his hand. "I don't want to lose either."

He nodded and turned his eyes back to the field. I did the same. The match soon began as Empoleon and Charizard glared at one another from across the field...who would win?


	36. Tournament Part Three!

Chapter 36

The match started immediately. "Charizard, seismic toss!"

Charizard flew at Empoleon and picked it up. Tsubaki took a second to analyze the situation. "Break free with drill peck!"

The Pokémon began swirling around, drilling itself into Charizard. The dragon Pokémon released Empoleon immediately, roaring angrily.

"Dragon claw!" Ishi called out.

Charizard's hand glowed as it clawed into Empoleon, dropping the bird Pokemon's HP. Tsubaki thought of a counter.

"Steel wing!"

Empoleon's wing glowed a steely color as it hit away Charizards hand, then charged over at him, hitting him with a solid hit to the gut. Charizard roared in fury, looking over at Ishi.

"Dragon rage!" Ishi screamed, punching the air.

"Counter with water pulse!" Tsubaki returned fire.

Both attacks colliding, the combination of moves cancelling each other out. Tsubaki and Ishi stared each other down.

"You're pretty good," complimented Ishi.

Tsubaki blushed. "You too, but this battle is mine. Use surf!"

"Try to cancel it with flame charge!"

Charizard's body set on fire as it fly into the large body of water. I heard sizzling sounds as the water and fire fought against each other. The next time we saw Charizard, he'd fainted.

"No way!" exclaimed Ishi. "Charizard's so strong though!"

"Yes," Tsubaki acknowledged. "But Empoleon's a bility, torrent, power's up its water moves and that's going to effect Charizard greatly."

Ishi sighed. "I can't believe I let a girl beat me. At least it's you, Tsubaki."

She blushed, adjusting her glasses. She returned Empoleon and exited the field. Ishi did as well.

"Better luck next time, bro," said Angel to Ishi.

Ishi nodded and turned his attention to the next battle. I did as well. The final fight. Servine Vs. Wartortle. Miku Vs. Kohaku.

Kohaku started without hesitation. "Leaf storm!"

Servine stirred up a tornado of glowing leaves, shooting out at Wartortle. Without command, Wartortle knew to dodge, but was hit by a few stray leaves.

"Our turn!" Miku called with a wink. "Rapid spin! Go!"

Wartortle sucked itself into its shell, beginning to spin speedily, aiming for Servine. The move managed to hit twice, but Servine dodged all the other strikes.

"Leaf blade!" Kohaku called.

Servine plowed straight into Wartortle, knocking him over. Miku panicked as Servine started to drain its HP.

"Use ice beam!" Miku called worriedly.

Wartortle obeyed, trying to freeze Servine over. Now it was Kohaku who was in trouble as Wartortle's HP dropped.

"Tackle her Wartortle!" he shouted.

"Tackle right back!" commanded Miku.

Both Pokémon slammed into each other like sumo wrestlers, trying to knock each other over. Neither of them seemed to be able to get the upper hand.

"Go Kohaku!" Tsubaki cheered. Ishi smiled and laughed at Tsubaki. I had to admit, she did look kind of funny getting so pumped up.

Akako examined the field. "Not sure why, but I think Miku will win."

I looked up at him. "Really? Kohaku has the advantage though."

Akako laughed. "Advantages mean nothing to a good trainer. We need to learn to tackle anything."

I nodded and turned back to the field, both Pokémon still duking it out. I held my breath, waiting for someone to take control of the battle.

"Ice beam once more!" Miku cried.

Kohaku screamed, "Leaf storm!"

The next scene was beautiful. Leaves froze over, falling from the sky. Both attacks were equally strong and elegant. The deciding factor would be how much HP the Pokémon still had left.

Both Pokémon stood facing each other, breathing heavily and waiting for its opponent to fall over. What happened shocked me. Both Pokémon fell over at the exact same time.

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, looking over at the judge.

Miku asked awkwardly, "Who wins?"

Marci shook her head. "Neither of you."

"Why?!" called out Kohaku.

"Neither of you won," noted Marci. "Which means you both lose. This will also make the tournament easier to go through. If one of you would've one, someone would've had an extra battle next round, so this evens the matches out nicely."

Miku bowed her head in defeat and Kohaku sighed. He walked off the field with Miku, comforting her. I saw him blush as she leaned on him.

Marci soon drew up a new set of matches. "Here's the next round!"

Kokoa Vs. Akako

Ichigo Vs. Tsubaki

I was up against Tsubaki? I'd have to be careful. She isn't only a brilliant hacker, she's highly knowledged on Pokémon as well. This should be a fun match.

Tsubaki extended her hand to me. "Best of luck."

I took her hand and shook it. "Same to you."

Then we went silent as Kokoa and Akako went on stage. Akako smiled and waved at me. "Make sure to cheer for me!"

Kokoa snorted. "Don't root for Aka-baka! I'm your best friend! Cheer for me!"

"Oh brother," I sighed. This would be a fun match indeed.

Kokoa called out Ginger, not waiting for Marci to begin the match. Akako did as well, readying his Grovyle. It was apparent that neither of them wanted t lose and I didn't want to see either of them lose either. I remained neutral, not really cheering for either. No matter the outcome, they'd make it a good match.

Marci stared at them intently, obviously curious about how the match would go. She could tell that they were both powerful trainers. The look in their eyes said it all. I just hoped they didn't kill each other. Then, the match began...


	37. Tournament Part Four!

Chapter 37

Kokoa tried to immediately take the lead, Nintales running over at Grovyle with a rapid speed. She tackled into it, then used the move as Kokoa called it out.

"Fire blast!"

Huge flames enveloped Grovyle, singing it and diminishing its Hp. Grovyle hissed in pain, standing up through his pain and running away from Ninetales, trying not to get hit again.

Akako bit his thumb, thinking of how he should counter this fire time. "Knock that fox over with pound!"

Grovyle pounded into Ginger, giving it all he had, cringing as pain from the last attack shot through it. He persevered though, swooping Ginger clean off her feet, causing her to hit the ground with a satisfying thud.

Grovyle gave Akako a look as if saying, "Now what?"

Akako didn't have much time to think. "Aerial ace!"

Grovyle lit aglow with a blinding shade of white, slamming into Ninetales at full force, trying to return the damage she'd done to him. Akako smiled in pleasure as Ninetales barked in frustration, Kokoa barking herself.

"Don't think I'm just going to take this! You won't win!" Kokoa called.

Akako looked smug. "I won't let you win either. I'm making it to the top two for sure."

Kokoa turned to her partner. "Ginger, use flamethrower at full strength!"

The fox let out a devious sound that sounded almost like a laugh. Grovyle cowered back.

The fox Pokémon then unleashed a full on inferno at Grovyle, the poor grass Pokémon running for dear life, not wanting to disappoint his trainer.

Just then, I heard a cry from outside the battle field. Luxray, watching from afar with Takuya, growled in pain. I saw Takuya run off with Luxray as Akako and Kokoa continued to battle. I wanted to follow, but I knew my friends wanted me to be here to watch them, so I stayed.

Just as I turned again, I saw Grovyle hacking Ninetales furiously with fury cutter, hitting so fast I could barely tell what was going on. Ginger tried to dodge as much as possible, but could only do so much to protect itself.

I could see Kokoa sweating slightly, trying to stay calm. I knew that losing to the person she hated most wasn't exactly on her to do list. Akako, however, looked very pleased with how things were turning. Maybe the odds were in his favor...or not...

I just noticed that the ground had been cracked from the force of Ninetales flamethrower. The crevaces were throwing of Grovyle's balance. Kokoa noticed this quickly.

"Tackle!" she called.

Ginger knew just what to do, hitting Grovyle staright in the gut, tripping it and trapping it in one of the crevices. Grovyle struggled, but couldn't manage to pull free.

Kokoa took up this opportunity quickly. "flamethrower now!"

"Protect!" Akako shouted desperately.

Had protect been quick enough or had the move struck too quickly? The answer: Flamethrower had hit Grovyle hard. REALLY hard. Ninetales huffed, holding its head up in superiority. Grovyle was down for the count.

But before I had time to congratulate or comfort either of them, I was hurled into a battle all my own. I had to face Tsubaki.

Akako, disappointed from his loss, smiled at me weakl;y, making his best effort to encourage me. Kokoa also cheered for me, screaming for me to win or she'd never forgive me.

I faced Tsubaki, taking deep breaths and calming myself down. I had to win this battle. For Akako at least. I'd show him my strength.

"Let's give it our all!" called Tsubaki.

"You got it!" I shouted back, smiling.

Marci did a backflip. "Begin the match!"

Amber was on the field immediately, facing a fierce-looking Empoleon. It was clear we were at the disadvantage. I decided to get ahead, we'd have to strike first.

"Sky uppercut!"

Amber slammed its fist into Empoleon's jaw, hitting the Pokémon back. I decided to combine another attack into the mix.

"Now use double kick!"

As Empoleon fell backward from sky uppercut, the double kick tripped it completely, causing it to fall on its back. Tsubaki didn't let us take the lead for long.

"Steel wing!"

The Pokemon sprang up with greater speed than the average Empoloeon, nailing Combusken in the gut. Amber was ready and willing to fight back, spirit burning.

I smiled. "Overheat!"

Combusken hit Empoleon with a huge wall of fire. I knew it wouldn't be super effective, but the move would become stronger as we went on, so it might be more useful later. Empoleon retaliated quickly.

Tsubaki smiled, a new plan in her head. "Surf!"

Oh no. As the huge wall of water came hurtling, I could tell what she planned to do. If that surf didn't completely knock out Amber, it would sweep her right into a crevace, trapping her so that she'd eventually faint anyway. I needed to avoid this somehow.

"Double kick into the ground at full force!" I commanded.

Amber knew what I wanted to do immediately and striked the ground, flinging itself up into the air and over the surf.

"Fire spin!" I then called.

Amber spewed out flames at Empoleon, but it dodged them immediately. Tsubaki smirked.

"Your flames are no match for me."

I smirked. "We'll see about that."

Then, she noticed that the flames had crashed into a nearby rock, sending small rock chunks and other small particles down onto Empoleon, chipping at its health.

She gasped. "Smart move. Didn't think you were so strategic."

I shrugged, but then she hit me with the big guns.

"Water pulse!"

There was no escape. The move hit my Pokémon, striking it hard. I then realized how low its health had been. Was it all over for me? No...

Combusken picked herself back up, smiling a bitter-sweet smiling at me, knowing something was about to happen. What was going on.

Then, Amber began glowing, growing as she growed, forming into something else. She'd just evolved into a Blaziken...


	38. Tournament Final Fight!

Chapter 38

I stared in awe at my newly evolved Blaziken, and through my daze, I pulled out my pokedex, checking for new moves.

I smiled as I read through all the moves Blaziken new, then smiled even more as I realized blaze was in effect. It would increase the power of its fire type moves, which may not seem effective, but Empoleon was part steel type, which fire could hurt, AND it was low on HP. I hoped we could wrap this up.

"Amber, use blaze kick!"

Her long leg set aflame with fire and she charged over, kicking Empoleon with great force right in the gut.

The penguin pokemon keeled over, at last succumbing. Its Hp was too low. It was unable to fight any further. Empoleon fainted.

I stood dumbstruck for a while, unable to realize I'd made it to the top two. Akako and Kokoa snapped me out of my days.

"Get ready for me, Ichigo!" Kokoa cried.

"That was amazing! You did it!" Akako cheered. "I knew you had it in you!"

Tsubaki smiled over at me. "Great battle."

"Thanks," I said.

She then walked off the field and over to Ishi, who immediately tried to cheer her back up. Maybe Ishi was nicer than I thought.

Kokoa then ran on field, opposite of where I was standing. Before I could blink, Ginger was ready and fired up on the battle field. The winner of this match would face Marci.

The Petilla champion smiled, clearly pleased to see the tournament coming to an end. All of us had fought long and hard. Now, at long last, we'd discover the outcome. Either Kokoa or myself would be the winner. Here was our grand finale.

Fire on fire. How fun. "Fire punch!"

Blaziken's fist lit up with a powerful flame. She charged at Ginger, hitting only her hind leg as she tried to dodge.

Ninetales hissed, looking over to Kokoa. "Will-o-wisp!"

Tiny flames shot at Amber. She managed to punch out and block many of them, but quite a few managed to hit their mark as well.

"Flare blitz!" I called, getting into the battle.

Amber conjured up a huge mass of fire, shooting it over at Ninetales. Ninetales managed to dodge part of it, but half of her body was engulfed by it. I smiled and Kokoa frowned.

"Now use dig!" she commanded.

I sucked my teeth. Dig was a ground type move. It was sure to do some decent damage on fire type Blaziken. I had to be ready for it to spring up.

I noticed rocks moving to Amber's left. "Double kick! Left side!"

I don't know how she'd done it, but Kokoa had tricked us. Ginger emerged from the right, hitting Blaziken full on. Amber was knocked to her feet, but kicked Ginger away swiftly, getting back on her feet.

"That's right! Tough it out!" I called to my trusty partner. "Use earthquake!"

Kokoa didn't have time to react. Blaziken shook up the earth with large force, the rock hitting into poor Ginger. The fox Pokémon barely managed to stay on its feet, shaking. I could tell that it was getting low on health, but then again, we were too.

Kokoa had a strategy though. I could see it. "Pin her down with tackle!"

Whatever she was doing, I wouldn't let her get away with it. "Brick break!"

Both of them collided, but Ninetales was much quickly, hitting Blaziken hard in the chest just before she could land a punch. She knew Amber wasn't used to her new form quite yet.

Amber fell to the ground, now being pinned by Ninetales, who glared at her, eyes full of wisdom. Ginger was an experienced Pokémon. She knew how to battle and never wanted to lose. She surely didn't want to lose this fight either.

Kokoa seemed very satisfied. "Dig down deep!"

Ginger began to use dig, dragging my Pokémon down with her. Amber tried to claw and kick, but couldn't escape as it was dragged down below the earth. Neither Kokoa nor I see what was happening as they went down deeper and deeper.

"What going on?!" I called to Kokoa from across the stage, the nervousness showing in my voice.

She smirked. "Ginger going to drag her deep into the ground, then torch her up. Down there, Amber can't escape."

I smiled a bit. "But what if it's Amber who barbecues Ginger?"

Kokoa shrugged, not worried one bit. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Just then, a huge wall of flames that touched the sky shooting out of the hole dig had made. It was like a geyser made of fire. It was captivating, the flames dancing and twisting around beautifully, like a dance. But as that dance ended, we were in sudden death territory. Who's Pokémon had won?

The aftershock from the flames explosion caused the dirt to cave in, revealing our Pokémon, both standing and breathing heavily. Which one would fall first.

"I belive in you!" I called to Blaziken.

"You can do it!" Kokoa encouraged her Pokémon.

Then, it all crumbled. Blaziken fell to the ground, sending me a sad smile of disappointment before falling to the ground, a bitter look on its face.

I fell to my knees, unable to believe that after all we'd been through and all the effort we'd put in, that we had still lost the match in the end.

Kokoa didn't gloat as I'd thought she would. Instead, she came right over to me, giving me a pat on the back.

"You did your best and you should be proud. You got to the top two. You even beat Aka-baka and other TRAINERS! You're a coordinator."

I nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Thanks."

She smiled at me. "No problem."

I then heard Marci yawn, stretching out. "Excuse me, Kokoa? Would you mind if we took a short intermission before our battle?"

Kokoa nodded. "Sure. Ginger and I need to rest anyway."

I also nodded, patting my fallen Blaziken.

Just then, a certain someone returned. Takuya came running back with Luxray. That wasn't the end of the story though. On Luxray's back, there sat three eggs. Shinx eggs. Luxray was a mom?!


	39. Kokoa Against Champion Part One!

Chapter 39

Everyone filed over immediately, completely surrounding Takuya and Luxray. I stared in awe at the three, small, shiny eggs that rested on Luxray's back. They were the first Pokémon eggs I'd ever seen!

Marci noticed my curiosity. "Is this your first time seeing an egg?"

I nodded dumbly, still taken aback. "Shinx will hatch from them, right?"

Marci nodded in response. "Would you like one?"

Takuya then jumped into our conversation. "I really can't keep them, so you can have one if you like."

"Yeah," I said, smiling a bit.

I shyly approached Luxray, gently lifting an egg from her back. It felt a bit cool, so I hugged it close to my chest, warming it. Luxray looked down at me in admiration. It was evident that she trusted me. I'd make sure to take care of this egg until it hatched.

Angel was the one to break the silence. "What will you do with the other two eggs? No one else wants them..."

Takuya smiled. "There's a daycare here in town. I heard they've been looking for some eggs. Luxray and I will take them there."

With those words, Takuya and Luxray walked off again, making a delivery to the daycare. I smiled down at my own egg, rubbing it, warming the chilly surface.

Marci then did a front flip, landing smoothly in front of Kokoa. "Are you ready for a battle? I'd like to start soon if you are."

Kokoa nodded in determination. "A three-on-three battle, right?"

Marci nodded. "Any three Pokémon you want."

I looked over to Ginger, who was still panting. She didn't look battle ready. Kokoa noticed this as well.

"I think Ginger will sit out this round. Sorry, girl."

Ginger stared up at her master, nodding in understanding. The fox Pokémon didn't even seem angry. In fact, she seemed grateful for the break.

As Marci and Kokoa headed to the field, I saw Takuya and Luxray out in the distance, joining the group of spectators.

Kokoa had a different look from when we battled. It was mightier, much more intense. It was like her fighting fire had been drenched in gasoline, flaring at its maximum potential.

This may be her only opportunity to face the champion. She didn't want to waste it.

I clutched the egg closer, the anticipation making my heart pound. I tried to calm down as Marci stated the new rules.

She cleared her throat. "This will be a three-on-three unofficial battle. The first team of three to faint will lose. Switches between Pokémon are allowed. If you mange to beat me, you won't become champion, but I'll give you a little gift in return. Ready?"

Kokoa merely nodded in response, her first Pokémon having already been chosen.

"Let's begin!"

Marci twirled around, calling out her first Pokémon. It was an Alakazam. Kokoa had thrown out Pilot the Ducklett.

Kokoa made the first move. "Air slash!"

Marci wasn't going to let her title of champion be bruised. "Counter with teleport and then confusion!"

Alakazam teleported just before the attack hit. Then, it appeared behind Pilot, striking it hard with confusion. The poor little duck took considerable damage.

"Pilot, aqua ring!" Kokoa called.

The duck was surrounded by a veil of water which replenished a small chunk of its health. I sighed in relief. Maybe Kokoa could win.

Kokoa smirked. "Now let's use aerial ace!"

Marci had other plans though. "Double team."

Pilot stopped mid-attack as the amount of Alakazam's multiplied, lots of duplicates surrounding the bird Pokémon. It no longer knew who to attack.

Marci laughed a little, smirking. "Now use thunder wave!"

Alakazam sent out a large amount of electricity, enveloping the small Ducklett. It cried out, taking lots of damage. Aqua ring managed to help the duck a little, but one more good attack might do it in. Then, it began to glow as my Combusken had. Ducklett was evolving.

Its wings widened and lots of features change as it shifted, transforming. By the end of it, Ducklett wasn't a Ducklett any longer. Pilot had evolved into Swanna.

"Good job, Pilot!" cheered Kokoa.

Marci smiled. "Impressive, but I'm afraid this battle is over. Alakazam, use the new move! Thunder punch!"

Kokoa didn't have time to react. The Alakazam came hurtling at Swanna, fist glowing with electricity. With one swift punch, Pilot was no longer airborne. Alakazam had one the first match, standing over a fainted Swanna.

Kokoa sighed in defeat, calling her Pokémon back. "That was awesome. Get some rest."

Marci also called back Alakazam, deciding on a new Pokémon. Kokoa and Marci threw out their next Pokémon at the same.

Kokoa released Ruru and Marci had thrown out an Umbreon. I wondered what the outcome of this fight would be.

Marci was the first one to strike this time around. "Umbreon, use mean look! Then confuse ray!"

Umbreon shot a nasty look at Ruru, making it so that Ruru couldn't be switched out. Then, Lucario was shot with confuse ray, confusing the Pokémon.

Kokoa growled in frustration. She didn't have any items to heal confusion. She hadn't gone shopping yet. "Ruru, try to use close combat!"

At first, it had looked like things would work out. Lucario sprinted at Umbreon at full speed, fists raised. But as it tried to punch, it came back at Ruru, damaging itself as it kept hitting.

"No!" cried Kokoa.

Marci took advantage of the situation. "Double team!"

Umbreon multiplied itself. Then, once all its doubles had been formed, they ran around Lucario, causing the Pokémon to become dizzy and confuse it more. Things weren't looking good for Kokoa. But then, miraculously, Lucario snapped out of its confusion.

Kokoa smiled. "Bone rush!"

Marci didn't look alarmed. "There's no way it'll find the original."

"Just watch."

Lucario closed its eyes, then striked, hitting an Umbreon hard. It was the real one! The copies disappeared as the real one growled in pain.

Kokoa laughed. "Lucario is good at sensing aura you know. It picked up the real ones aura, then hit it."

"Now aura sphere! Rapid fire!"

Ruru shot multiple aura spheres at Umbreon, lots of them making their mark. There were too many of them. Umbreon couldn't dodge them all. As each one hit, Umbreon's HP was getting lower and lower.

Marci sighed and picked up her pokeball. "Return, Umbreon!"

She had decided to switch out. "Let's go, Lopunny!"

The tall, slender bunny Pokémon came dazzling onto the stage. Marci and this Pokémon seemed very close. Not as close as partners, but my theory was that Lopunny had been there since the start of her journey.

"Let's go, Lopunny! Dizzy punch! Don't let Lucario get a move in!"

The bunny Pokémon hit Lucario rapidly, fists aglow with power. Lucario was nailed rapidly, hit in the gut, jaw, legs, etc. until finally, it collapsed. Lucario was down.

Kokoa hissed, clutching the pokeball of her very last Pokémon. She seemed reluctant to use it. I knew which Pokémon it was.

She threw out Zoroark.


	40. Tournament End Drama begin!

Chapter 40

Kokoa looked oddly afraid as Zoroark took the stage. Why did she look so concerned? Hadn't her mother given her that Pokémon.

Kokoa noticed my alarm. "Um...about Zoroark. After dad went berserk, he hasn't been the same. It's hard for him to trust anyone. He doesn't really listen to my commands..."

Oh no. This didn't sound good. If Zoroark won't listen to Kokoa's commands, how will the battle play out? It's no use having a powerful Pokémon if it's uncooperative. Poor Kokoa.

Marci smiled at her Pokémon. "Hey, Lopunny? How about we wrap this up quickly? Bounce!"

The large bunny launched itself into the air, swiftly coming down on Zoroark.

"Zoroark, please dodge!" cried Kokoa.

The dark Pokémon yawned and used protect as Loppuny hurtled down on it. Kokoa sighed.

"At least he's kind of listening..."

Kokoa then smiled, remembering something. True her and Zoroark weren't close, but this move was perfect for their situation. That is, if Zoroark listened.

"Use frustration!"

Frustration. The perfect move for them. The lower the friendship between trainer and Pokémon, the more damage it causes.

Zoroark coldly glared at Kokoa, then hissed, following orders and given Lopunny a hard strike with frustration. The poor Pokémon took it hard. Maybe Kokoa still had a fighting chance after all.

Lopunny got up, slowly but surely. "Use jump kick!"

Lopunny kicked at Zoroark, but it blocked, looking bored by the whole fight. It opened an eye, glancing over at Kokoa. He was waiting for instructions?

Kokoa smiled a bit. "Okay, use dark pulse!"

Zoroark gave Kokoa a small thumbs up, then unleashed a ferocious beam of dark energy onto Lopunny.

The bunny screeched, taking the attack full on. It was obvious this Pokémon was more usual in Marci's magic acts than in battle. It fainted.

Zoroark sighed and yawned, getting bored again.

Kokoa cheered. "Good job, Zoroark!"

Zoroark turned to her, scowling and snorting. For a minute, it looked like he wanted to assist Kokoa, but now he was being stubborn again. Kokoa sighed.

Marci smiled and chuckled a bit. "Not bad, but don't forget, I still have two Pokémon up my sleeve."

Marci took off her top hat, tossing it into the air. Because of a hidden pokeball inside, Umbreon was called onto the field. Dark type Vs. Dark type. Interesting.

Marci took the opportunity to attack first. "Let's try and finish things up. Confuse ray now!"

Kokoa and Zoroark hadn't been prepared and were hit full on by the attack. Zoroark spun around, confused.

"No! Zoroark!" called Kokoa. "I can't help you..."

I set down the Shinx egg and reached into my bag, finding just what I was looking for. I tossed an item over to Kokoa. A berry I'd been saving in case confusion struck.

She mouthed "Thank you" as she gave it to Zoroark, freeing him immediately from confusion. Before Marci could confuse them again, she knew she had to strike.

She turned to Zoroark. "Look, I know that it's hard for you to trust anyone, but...can you please open your heart to me? I really want to win this fight. Don't you? Please Zoroark."

It snorted, glaring at her.

Kokoa sighed. "What do you want from me?"

The Zoroark pointed at Ginger.

"What?" asked Kokoa confusedly.

Zoroark snarled and began writing in the ground. This Pokémon was smart. It spelled "Name" in the sand.

"You want a nickname?" Kokoa asked.

Zoroark nodded.

Kokoa laughed. "Sure thing buddy. I know it may sound lame, but how about Zoro?"

Zoroark nodded and clenched its fists, ready to fight.

"Alright Zoro, use Flamethrower!"

Flames spouted out of its move, heading straight at Umbreon. The dark eeveelution had been predicting an attack, and immediately jumped to the side, dodging completely.

Marci smiled. "Nice one Umbreon. Use attract!"

I guess Umbreon was a girl, because the attack definitely hit. Zoro's eyes turned to hearts as it became infatuated with the other Pokémon.

Kokoa growled. "Damn her status effects."

Marci giggled innocently. "Let's finish this match now. Let's have a grand finale with giga impact!"

Umbreon smiled darkly as its body lit up with an orangish yellow light, charging directly at Zoro. The attack made its mark, exploding with incredible force. As the smoke cleared, Zoroark still stood standing though, but was very bruised.

"Ro...ark," it hissed, looking to Kokoa.

"Can you still battle?" she asked.

Zoro nodded.

"Then use-"

She couldn't finish her sentence before Zoroark dropped, fainted. Yes, the mighty Zoroark had fallen.

"But how?!" yelled Kokoa.

Marci smiled and winked. "As you an Zoroark had your little discussion, I had Umbreon silently use its moves on the field, breaking apart some rock. As Zoroarl ran on the broken rock, it hurt it. That's how I dealt some extra damage in the end. I always make use of the field."

Kokoa sighed and patted Zoro. "Man, you're good."

Marci stretched, then shrugged. "I honestly don't think I was at my best today. I definitely enjoyed battling you though. For a trainer so early on in their journey, you're very good. Keep up all the hard work."

Kokoa nodded. "Thank you. Maybe we'll battle again some day."

This sweet scene was then interrupted by Takuya. "Excuse me, Miss Marci? There's something I've been wondering. Why did you come to town with Kohaku and Miku in the first place? Usually a champion wouldn't come to such an insignificant town for no reason."

Panic spread on Marci's face. "Oh no!"

Everything stared at her in shock. "What's wrong?!"

Marci glared at Tsubaki and Ishi. "You're a part of Team Millennium right?"

They both nodded. "Unwillingly though."

Marci hissed. "Well your little team is causing an uproar downtown. And...Matsuyo- I mean Prof. Pine is being held captive by Akuma."

I panicked, clutching my egg tightly. "How did you forget something like that?!"

Marci sighed. "I'm sorry! I'm very absent minded...that isn't the point! Will you guys help me stop Millennium?!"

Kokoa smiled. "That's my lifetime goal."

I nodded. "They need to be stopped.

"Count me in," hissed Akako.

Takuya just nodded.

Miku frowned. "I know how bad they can be, so I'll help.

"Me too," agreed Kohaku.

Rin shrugged. "I have nothing better to do."

Angel nodded shyly. "They're bad people."

Tsubaki sighed sadly. "We can't help otherwise Akuma might..."injure" us. Good-bye for now..."

Ishi and Tsubaki then took off. The rest of us looked over to Marci. She began running forward. "Follow me!"


	41. Live or Die? Heros Vs Villains!

Chapter 41

Marci led us forward as we ran downtown in search of Akuma who, according to Marci's information, had captured Professor Pine. I could tell that everyone's nerves were frazzled. What exactly is Akuma going to do with Prof. Pine? And will we be able to save her?

"There!" Marci shouted as we finally arrived at our destination.

All of us stopped and stared in horror at the scene. The Millennium grunts were running amuck, chasing people's Pokémon with their weapons. I saw blood smeared on the streets and my stomach did a backflip. Then, I saw Akuma with an unconscious Pine slung across his shoulder.

Kokoa hissed in anger. I could only imagine how she felt. This WAS her father doing all these inhumane things. He needed to be put to a stop and now. Marci took the lead and we followed slowly behind.

Akuma noticed us immediately, smirking as we inched closer. I could hear him chuckling. I clenched my fists together, anger boiling up inside of me. I might've exploded if Akako hadn't took my hand at that moment. I looked over at him, surprise that he'd take my hand, but I slowly moved a bit closer to him, letting my anger dissolve. Rushing in blindly wouldn't help at all.

"Hello, Marci. What brings you here?" I heard Akuma boom.

Marci glared at him icily, almost as evilly as Kokoa. "Drop her now!"

Akuma frowned. "Are you talking about Matsuyo? Hmm...I'd prefer to keep her actually. Her Pokémon studies could be very useful to my organization."

Kokoa then stepped up, her expression more threatening then I'd ever seen. "Stop this now! We WILL take you out!"

Akuma laughed, amused. "Oh really? I doubt a little girl like you could even so much as bruise me. I suggest you step back if you all don't want to get hurt."

Then, his cold red eyes met my pink ones. I was fearful of this cold-blooded man, but I didn't let it show. Instead, I shot him back with my most intense look of confidence and rage. He looked somewhat interested.

"You," he called, pointing at me. "Ichigo, right?"

I didn't answer, just returning him with a glare.

Akuma chuckled, but frowned. "I hate to admit this, but you, my dear, are a threat to my team. Instead of destroying you, I'll asl you one more time. Will you join us?"

Before I could reject, Akako pushing me behind him, giving Akuma a look I'd never seen from Akako before. I noticed that Angel looked a bit sadly at us, but I ignored her, staring at Akako.

"I swear To Arecus, if you touch Ichigo, you'll be a dead man!"

Akuma chuckled, not taking his threat to heart. "Oh. I'm so scared. Well, I'll take her answer as a no. Too bad. You had such great potential, Ichigo. Well, I'm afraid that you're all too much off a threat now. You'll have to be...eliminated. And you have Angel...well that won't do. I need Ishi. GRUNTS!"

A swarm of people wearing lab coats began surrounding us, including that troublesome commander, Hayato. I hear Akako curse under his breath. It must be bad if he was getting nervous. My heart beated faster as I tried not to panic. There were too many grunts. There was no way we could get through them all.

Suddenly, I felt some strong arms surround me, embracing me. Akako. I looked up at him, seeing the partly sad and partly frustrated look on his face. His eyes met mine and he sighed.

"Ichigo, I promise to protect you. Even if...even if it's worthless in the end. You've helped me out a lot and I think that...that I'm finally starting to open my heart again. So...thank you."

I would have blushed, but now wasn't the time to get lost in the moment. We were being surrounded. I took my egg, hiding it deep within my bag. I wanted that unborn Pokémon to live at least. Then, we all grabbed our pokeballs, unleashing our Pokémon. It was risky to have them out. They could be killed. But then again, we might be killed too. We'd all take a stand together. Until the bitter end...

"Amber, flamethrower!" I called, my heart jerking at the thought of my partner...passing on.

Amber nodded, its spreads surrounding my friends and I in one large circle. That should keep out the grunts long enough for us to come up with a plan. We all turned to Marci, seeking her guidance.

Marci bit her thumb in thought, so hard that it was starting to bleed. I knew she was under a lot of pressure. What could we do? Just then, she got a spark in her eyes, coming up with a plan.

She turned to Kokoa. "Can your Zoroark make an illusion?"

Kokoa looked thoughtful. "What kind of illusion would we need?"

"Can you make it look like we've disappeared? In the confusion, we can take out a good amount of grunts."

Kokoa sucked her teeth. "Um...Maybe. It's worth a shot. Zoro, can you make an illusion?"

Zoroark nodded, giving a thumbs up. Then, it closed its eyes, beginning to create the mirage. It a matter of moments, it was complete. Just in time too. The grunts had just put out the flames. Now, they all looked confused, thinking we'd vanished.

Kokoa smiled victoriously. Zoroark and her really did work well together. Now, not wasting any time, we struck. My Pokémon rushed at the grunts, pounding them with moves, trying not to damage them too terribly, but knocking them out. I rushed at a grunt, giving them a hard kick to the stomach. They went down, groaning in pain.

I noticed Kokoa having her own fun, ramming grunts into one another. The only one not attacking was Angel, who cowered away in the distance. I ran over to her, taking her by the hand and leading her forward.

"Come on! We need your help. Besides, the illusion will wear off soon, so we'll need you close by so we can protect you."

Angel eyes were tearing up a bit, but she nodded. She really was terrified of these people. Honestly, I was too. Not only did they kill Pokémon, but now they were after our own lives. I wouldn't cower away though. And I'd protect whoever I could.

I smiled at Angel, giving her a bit of reassurance. I felt like her older sister, leading her and helping her out. It was kind of cool. I then urged her forward, seeing Zoroark signal the end of its illusion.

At this point, it didn't matter though. We'd taken out most of the grunts anyway. Only a few remained, but Kokoa kickly kicked them down, refusing to let them overtake us again. I then released Angel's hand, letting her move to the center of our group. I then met up with Akako, taking his hand and turning to Akuma. He was the only one left standing.

Akuma clapped sarcastically. "Bravo. Great job. You defeated a few GRUNTS! But can you handle ME?"

He threw Prof. Pine into the arms of a woman with short, black hair. Her unique white dress with the infinity symbol led me to believe she was another commander.

Akuma cracked his knuckles and neck, taking off a jacket he was wearing to reveal his bulky muscles. All of us, including Marci flinched a bit. Akuma looked incredibly strong. We knew we had to beat him though. We wouldn't let him take Prof. Pine!


	42. The Demise of Akuma?

Chapter 42

Akuma came charging at us. Marci was the one to act, jumping up and delivering him a hard kick in the stomach. He stumbled, but didn't fall. Akuma growled at Marci and punched her in the stomach, sending her to the ground. I gasped in fear.

Kokoa and Takuya then rushed in to aid Marci. Takuya tried to punch Akuma, but he caught Takuya fist, twisting it around. Kokoa growled, charging at Akuma and punching him in the face. Akuma hissed in pain and released Takuya. The battle wasn't close to being over yet though. We all needed to help if we wanted to take Akuma out.

Akako looked over at me. I knew what he was trying to say. He wanted to go in and fight. I nodded, gripping his hand even tighter. We both sprinted forward, letting go of each other and charging at Akuma. I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly felt brave. I screamed and charged into Akuma, tackling him.

With the combined efforts of myself, Kokoa, Takuya, and Akako, Akuma was pushed over, hitting the ground. Akuma screamed out in pain and scratched me in the face, then pushing me off of him and onto the hard ground.

I grunted in pain, having landed hard. I could feel my side bruising up and I felt a warm liquid run down my head. I brought my hard up to my forehead. It was bleeding. Akako rushed over to me immediately, helping me up.

"You're bleeding!" he exclaimed.

I hissed in pain. "Yeah. I noticed."

Akako reached in his pocket, taking out a piece of cloth. He pressed it against my forehead, trying to stop my bleeding.

"Hold it," he told me.

I did as he asked, pressing it against my forehead. He dug through his bag until he found a long piece of cloth. He took it and tied it around my head. It wasn't romantic or anything, but it still made me blush. Once he was done he smiled weakly.

"Ichigo, can you still fight?"

I nodded, clenching my fists. "I'll make Akuma pay for everything he's done."

Akako smiled and chuckled a bit. "Alright. That's the Ichigo I know! Let's go kick his ass!"

I nodded, taking a deep breath and rushing back to the field with him. From what I saw, Rin was now taking a shot at Akuma and Angel was trying to help. Looks like Angel was gaining more confidence. Kokoa and Takuya were taking the rear, helping to take him down. Marci was ready to deliver a blow.

"Hurry or we'll miss all the action!" said Akako, smirking.

"I'm moving as fast as I can!" I called back.

Once we arrived, Marci looked over to us for help. It looked like they'd almost gotten Akuma, but he'd pushed them off, some of my friends lying on the hard earth. I growled in anger.

We ran over to meet Marci and she looked to us in fear and frustration. "We need to take him down. Can your Pokémon still fight?"

I looked over at my Pokémon, tired from fighting the grunts. However, one of my Pokémon, Amber, still looked ready to fight. It appeared that Akako's Grovyle was ready too. However, it wasn't a Grovyle anymore. As we'd been fighting, it had evolved. Grovyle was now a Sceptile.

I smiled. "I think they can still fight."

Akako nodded. "I've got a new Sceptile to try out."

Marci sighed in relief. "Great. I know it's risky, but using our Pokémon may be the only way to beat him. Our physical attacks just aren't working."

I nodded. "What's our game plan?"

Marci looked over at our fallen comrades and sighed. "We need to charge in and attack him with our Pokémon, then go and save Pine."

I nodded and Akako did too. Marci nodded back, throwing up a pokeball and calling out a starter Pokémon, Marshtomp.

"Alright," said Marci confidently. "Let's do this!"

The three of us charged in, Pokémon at the ready. Akuma hadn't been prepared for us to attack with our Pokémon. Blaziken's fire swirled around him, locking him in. Marshtomp then shot out the fire, drowning him in water. Finally, Sceptle shot him with razor leaf, the attack cutting his skin. Akuma growled in pain, looking washed up.

Our friends looked over at us thankfully, getting up and attacking again. We now had Akuma pinned. Marci ran over to the Millennium commander and kicked her right in the face, knocking her out. Marci then picked up Prof. Pine, carrying her over to us.

Rin stuck her tongue out at Akuma. "That'll teach you."

Angel shied away a bit, but felt accomplished. "We really did it?"

"Huzzah!" called Kohaku.

Miku rolled her eyes at him, but giggled. "You're such a geek, but I like that about you."

What really stood out in the crowd was Takuya and Kokoa. I can't even begin to express my surprise. They were, hugging. Holding each other close. They looked like a couple. In my surprise, I called out, "What are you guys doing?!"

Kokoa smiled and rolled her eyes. "Well, Takuya, they caught us."

He sighed. "Looks like it."

My jaw dropped to the floor. "Are you guys-"

"Dating?" finished Kokoa. "Yup."

"But you rejected him!" I called. "When did you get together? It didn't even look like you two were going out until now..."

Kokoa sighed. "We got together a while ago. And so what if we don't look like a couple? We'd rather keep the romantic moments to ourselves. Why should there be need for PDA?"

"I'm so confused," I spat out,my head swirling.

"Just go with it," said Takuya.

"So you guys are dating, but you just don't show it to people?"

Kokoa nodded. "Correct. It's kind of lame to have to show everything to other people. I want things to be secretive and romantic, not open for anyone to mess with."

"You sure have some weird philosophies," commented Akako.

"Shut it, Aka-baka!" Kokoa hissed. "At least I'm dating someone unlike YOU, Mr. Lonely."

Just then, Akuma sprang up, hissing in pain and anger. I screamed, jumping back in fear. He glared at us, hate shining in his red eyes.

"You've won this round," Akuma growled. "But the next time we meet, things will be different."

Just like in one of Marci's magics tricks, Akuma throw a smoke bomb to the ground, disappearing in the smoke. He'd gotten away.

Marci cursed, clearly irritated that he'd just slipped away. On a brighter note though, Prof. Pine's eyes were now fluttering open. It looked like she was okay.

Pine blinked in surprise, her blue hair in a mess and her glasses crooked. "Akuma, he...you saved me?"

Marci nodded. "Yup. You're safe now."

Prof. Pine sighed. "Never thought my past would come back to haunt me."

"What?"

"Oh nothing!" said Pine. "I just used to know Akuma before he...snapped. Just ignore me."

Marci sighed. "Alright. How about we head back to your lab?"

She nodded. "Yes. That sounds great."

Marci looked over at us and waved. "Bye for now! I'm going to take Matsuyo, I mean Prof. Pine back to her lab now. I hope to see you at the Pokémon league!"

"Ok! Bye!" we all called back, waving.

Suddenly all was quiet again. I sighed in exhaustion. It had been a long day. We'd defeated Akuma, saved Prof. Pine, I'd gotten injured, and I found out that Kokoa and Takuya were dating. Plus, in the future, there'd be an upcoming contest for me to worry about. Talk about crazy! Well, for now, I guess this is the end. Until tomorrow.

**Hello~! I hope you're happy. A couple has finally become canon! Tempershipping! KokoaxTakuya. So yay! Be prepared for Christmas. On Christmas, some action will happen in this story. Romance I mean. The characters of Pokémon celebrate Christmas as well. Hehehe. Anyway, good-bye for now!**

**-IchigoHatake**


	43. Christmas Preparations!

Chapter 43

After our encounter with Millennium, my friends and I are relaxing now, taking in the beautiful displays being put out in Gilder. The contest and any gym battles have been postponed. Why? One, Christmas is coming up. And two, Millennium damaged the town quite a bit in their rampage. I shivered as I remembered the attack. More Pokémon dead...

Anyway, enough negatives. I found myself becoming super excited for Christmas. According to the townsfolk, it rarely snows in Gilder, much to Kokoa's dismay, but everyone is very festive and it should be a great holiday.

Currently, we were staying in a hotel, but since they needed help with decorations and cooking, we'd all agreed to help out in different ways. By we, I mean myself, Takuya, Kokoa, Akako, and Angel. The others had left to do various other things. Angel would be travelling with us just until after the contest.

I had all my Pokémon out, each helping with decorations all except for Amber who was working with Kokoa and me in the kitchen.

I giggled happily as Cuddles got herself all wrapped up in the garland and Chestnut, trying to save her, got himself caught as well. Ao freed both of them with her psychic. Takuya and Akako were both carrying in the Christmas tree and Angel was watching over my egg while turning on some Christmas music. Everything seemed to be in perfect harmony. Kokoa snapped me back into reality.

"If you're going to daydream, do it elsewhere. You're going to ruin the cookies."

Beginning to roll the dough again, I apologized. "Sorry. I'll get right back on it."

Kokoa nodded, continuing her work. I copied her. "I didn't know you could cook, Kokoa."

She nodded. "My mom taught me. Anyway, I'm surprised that you CAN't cook considering how much you eat."

I laughed, setting done my rolling pin and getting out the cookie cutters. "Well I guess I'd rather just have people cook for me. I'm lazy. Besides, my parents aren't around long enough to teach me much."

Kokoa sighed, seeing the sad look on my face. "Well, you have me to teach you, so don't fret! We'll make these holiday treats perfect!"

I screamed as I heard a loud fun. Looking through the Kitchen window, I saw that Takuya and Akako had dropped the tree.

Kokoa hissed in anger. "Oi! Aka-baka! Be careful you idiot! You better not ruin my Christmas!"

He glared back at her. "I didn't drop it! It was both of our faults!"

Kokoa looked over at Takuya. "I forgive him because he's my boyfriend, but if you ruin that tree, Akako, you'll be a dead man this Christmas!"

I sweat dropped, listening to them arguing back and forth. "Settle down. Isn't Christmas a time of love and friendship?"

Kokoa turned away from Akako. "You're right, Ichigo. It's Christmas and I don't intend to get on the naughty list. Just until after Christmas, I'll be nice to Aka-baka."

"You can start by calling me by my name!" he shouted at her.

I glared at him and he jumped a bit. "That goes for you too, Akako!"

"Yes ma'am," he sighed, helping Takuya to pick the tree back up.

I can't deny that I love Akako, but he could be such an idiot. I frowned a bit as I saw Angel staring at him. I loved Angel to pieces. She was like a sister, but she made me jealous staring at him like that.

I continued cutting out the cookies, blushing as I realized how stupid it was to be jealous. Akako wasn't even ready for a relationship right now. Close maybe, but not there yet. I was still going to win him over if I could though. In fact, I'd gotten a special Christmas present for him and my other friends too of course, but I hoped he'd like his present.

"Done cutting cookies?" asked Kokoa.

I nodded and she took the tray, starting the oven. "Can you start on the Christmas cake? The recipe book should be on the counter."

"No problem," I said, but I lost confidence as I stared out the recipe. Then, someone tapped on my shoulder. I jumped a bit, but found it was only Akako.

I peeked out the window, seeing that the tree was up and that Takuya and the Pokémon were starting to decorate it. Akako washed his hands, then came back over, peering at the recipe from over my shoulder. I blushed, my heart pounding now that he was so close.

Akako then glanced at me, staring at me intently. I blushed, suddenly feeling self conscious. Did I look weird or something? I had to admit, I didn't like like myself with my hair in a bun with this frilly pink apron. Instead of commenting on my clothes, he laughed, wiping something off my chin.

"You have dough all over your face," he chuckled.

I blushed in ager and embarrassment. "Well excuse me. I don't cook much, so it got a bit messy."

He smiled genuinely, grabbing a napkin and wiping a glob of dough from my bangs. "You're cute," he laughed.

I didn't think I could turn more red, but I did, embarrassed and nervous to be in his company.

He then looked at me worriedly. "You're pretty red. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

I rolled my eyes. "Nice. I'm fine. Let's get started on this cake though."

He nodded, grabbing the ingredients from the fridge. I looked over Kokoa who was PRETENDING to be busy. She had a mischievous look upon her face. It would be like her to play match maker. She hated Akako though, but then again, she liked me. She must be setting us up to help me out. I'm not sure whether I should love her or hate her for putting me in this awkward position. I'll just go with it.

And so, Akako and I took our time cooking together, finally getting the cake done after much teasing and throwing flour at each other. I sighed in relief. Then, as I looked out the window, I saw the Pokémon, Takuya, and Angel all gathered around the tree.

Kokoa, Akako, and I all walked out to meet them. The Christmas tree was all ready except for one thing. The star wasn't yet placed on the top. Akako grabbed a shining, glass Staryu figure from the decoration box and handed it to me.

"Would you care to do the honors?"

I nodded, gripping the Staryu tight as not to drop it. Akako grabbed my hand as I walked up the ladder, extra back up in case I fell. Then, as I reached the top, miraculously not tripping, I added the Strayu to the top of the tree.

"Hit it!" called Kokoa.

Then, Angel plugged in the tree, setting it aglow. I'd never seen anything so beautiful. The tree shone beautiful hues of red, green, and many other colors. The ornamants reflected the light of the Christmas lights. The tinsel swayed and sparkled. And the Strayu at the top looked the brightest and most beautiful out of all of it.

As I stared it it with Akako, I smiled as brightly as the tree, as excited as a little kid. This felt like my very first Christmas. In a way, it was. It was the first one I'd ever spend with Akako. Then, noticing the time, I saw that we'd been working on this WAY late. It was midnight. Christmas Eve.

I smiled tiredly at my friends and we all travelled back to our hotel rooms, exhausted. I returned all my Pokémon and snuggled into my bed. Christmas was only a while away and who knows what magic and miracles would occur. I'd hope for the very best.

Now you might be wondering, what's my Christmas wish? It may be impossible and it might not come true. I suppose I'd be okay if it didn't happen, but...My wish is to get a kiss from Akako. Not on the forehead or cheek...A REAL kiss.


	44. Oh, Christmas Eve!

Chapter 44

I woke up this morning very bright and cheerful. The hotel owners, Marie and Joey, were very happy that we'd put in so much effort to help them out with their Christmas festivities. Now, all of us were gathered around the table, munching on some Christmas cookies.

"Don't eat all of them!" Kokoa shouted at me.

I couldn't help it though. The cookies we'd made were good. They deserved to be devoured quickly so that they wouldn't have to suffer! That's what I believed at least. I noticed Akako giggling as he messed around with his video camera.

"Hm?" I asked, looking over at it. I then blushed, noticing a certain video he was playing.

It was me in my apron, covered in flour, dancing around with a rolling pin. He'd recorded me?!

Everyone laughed as they watched, including the silent Akako and shy Angel. I blushed more in embarrassment, slipping away from the table to avoid being made fun of. I can't believe that Akako had been filming me! And why?!

I sighed as the camera man himself came running after me, grabbing my wrist in case I tried to run. I turned to face him, my red face brightening. Even in the morning, with his hair tossed about, he looked so handsome. I wanted to be mad at him, but I just couldn't be.

"Sorry," he whispered. "You just looked so happy and cute dancing around like that."

My face was probably the deepest shade of red that existed. "Why would you film that? It's so embarrassing!"

Akako shrugged. "I thought you looked really happy. I like it when you smile."

My heart did a backflip, but for some reason, this felt a bit wrong. Sure Akako was opening up, but his heart was still locked away. I wondered if he'd really be able to fall in love with me or not. Thinking about him rejecting me made me upset, and without warning, I started crying.

Akako panicked. "Hey! If you're that embarrassed, I'll delete it."

I shook my head, wiping some tears with the back of my hand. "It's not that. I'm sorry, it's just..."

Akako wiped some of my tears and brushed his hand against my forehead where I'd been injured. All that remained from that accident was a light scar. His face suddenly took on a serious and distant look.

"I was really scared when you'd gotten hurt. There was blood everywhere...it reminded me of when I lost my brother. It got me thinking...I don't want to see people get hurt anymore...especially people I love..."

As I started turning pink, his eyes took on their usual glow and he turned back to his normal self. He noticed the look in my eyes and gave me an awkward smile.

"Um...sorry, Ichigo. Uh...forget I said all of that. That must've sounded pretty weird. Anyway, Marie and Joey were wondering if we'd like to go carolling with them. Do you want to come?"

I nodded, wiping the last of my tears and beginning to smile. "Yeah. I love singing."

He nodded. "Great. Then we should get going."

I nodded, following after him. This whole scene felt like it had drain ed all my energy. Sometimes I just didn't know what to do with Akako. He really mixed me up sometimes. But I knew I wouldn't stop chasing him until...until the day he finally answered me.

Kokoa smiled as we walked back over here. "Hurry up! You're slower than Slugmas! Come on, let's get going!"

I smiled and followed after everyone. Mare and Joseph took the lead, Angel following behind, then, as Takuya and Kokoa walked through the doorway, I noticed something. Misteltoe hung over them.

I laughed teasingly. "Hey, you two! Look up!"

The both looked up and saw the misteltoe. Takuya sighed and Kokoa just shook her head.

She laughed as everyone started staring, waiting for them to kiss. "Alright, kiddies. Take a good look, because this is probably the only time you'll see us to this."

Kokoa turned to Takuya and they both leaned in, giving each other a quick kiss. It was only a few seconds long, but it was good enough for us and we cheered. (A/N: Aw. Tempershipping)

Kokoa and Takuya rolled there eyes and walked out the door. Kokoa stared at me mischievously, hoping that Akako and I would walk out together under the mistletoe. Blushing, I ran out before we could both be caught together. I heard Kokoa curse. Well I'm sorry, but if I'm going to kiss Akako, I'd like it to be an actual romantic moment.

Akako then came out and we began carolling. We knocked on the doors of people, stores, and we even sang in town square. Everyone seemed sort of impressed by my voice, although I couldn't hit some of the higher notes. My favorite song that we'd sang was "Silent Night" although I couldn't sing that high for "Heavenly peace."

Now that we were all carolled out, Marie and Joey had taken us out for dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. I laughed as I saw a man dressed as Santa petting his Stantler. The kids were going nuts over him. It reminded me of when my parents used to take me to see Santa. Well, when they didn't have to work.

Akako noticed me staring and laughed. "Want to go see Santa?"

I blushed, embarrassed. "No! I was just reminiscing. I'm sixteen. Why would I want to go see Santa?"

"Because you are the most childish person I've ever met," he answered immediately.

I blushed even more and sighed, storming over to the dinner table. Even if I did visit Santa, he couldn't make my wish come true. He wasn't the real Santa anyway. This wish was up to me to accomplish and I'd probably need a miracle to make it happen.

After a long and embarrassing dinner as Akako told everyone that I'd wanted to see Santa, which I really didn't, we finally arrived back at the hotel, eating the Christmas cake we'd made for dessert.

As I finished my cake, I groaned. "I've never been so FULL!"

Akako laughed. "Never thought I'd hear you say that Ms. Eating machine."

"Can it, Aka-baka," I shot back.

Akako rolled his eyes, looking at Kokoa. "You HAD to spread that nickname around!"

Kokoa smiled innocently. "Just be happy, Aka-baka. You'll be getting a present from me this Christmas."

"Is it a poisonous fruitcake?" he asked.

"No, but good idea. I'll save that for next year," she laughed. "But no. You'll get a nice present. Just trust me this once."

I smiled. This was going to be a nice Christmas.

"I-I got you all presents too..," whispered Angel. We all heard though.

"Thanks!" I said, smiling cheerfully.

She nodded and went back to finishing her cake. Christmas would be great. I could just feel it.

(Time Lapse. Everyone has gone to bed except for Ichigo)

I quietly sneaked out of the bedroom, still wearing my nightgown. I needed some fresh air. I quietly opened up the door, sneaking out, the cold air nipping at my skin. For a town that didn't snow, it was cold.

I sighed, laying out on the open yard, staring up at the stars. I'd been thinking about Akako and it had been keeping me up. I wondered if he'd reject me if I tried to kiss him. I sighed again, looking to the stars for guidance. That's when I saw a star shoot pass.

I gasped in awe, then making a wish on it. _'Please help my Christmas wish come true.'_

I blinked my eyes in surprise and rubbed my ears. For a second, I'd thought that I'd heard sleigh bells. I looked across the street at the gas station, it's huge clock displaying the time. Midnight. It was officially Christmas.

I smiled, my heart and mind cleared. I should get back to sleep before Santa puts me on the naughty list. I laughed quietly and snuck back in, locking the door. I pounced into my bed, snuggling right in. I think I could fall asleep now, knowing that it was Christmas.

I smiled as I fell asleep. For some reason, I wasn't nervous anymore. I had faith that I could make my wish come true. Because if you believe, your dreams can come true.

**Merry Christmas Eve!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	45. A Christmas Wish Come True!

Chapter 45

I woke up to the sqawking sound of my Blaziken. I groaned, blinking my eyes wearily, unable to get up. Amber sighed impatiently, then picked me up and carried me out of the room.

Just as I was about to protest, I noticed where she carrying me. She was taking me to join my friends who were all gathered around the Christmas tree we'd decorated. Everyone smiled at me as the saw me being carried over.

Kokoa laughed as Amber dumped me down on the floor with them. "So you're finally up? It's Christmas! You shouldn't be sleeping in."

I smiled as I looked around at everybody. Each of them had a Santa hat on. Takuya handed one to me as well. I happily put it on and noticed that everyone was holding the presents they'd be passing out. Amber handed me the ones I'd bought for them.

"So...we all just hand each other the gifts?" asked Angel quietly. We all heard her though.

"Yup. Just hand up out!" said Kokoa, readying her gifts.

We then passed each other the gifts we'd bought, careful with the boxes in case any fragile materials laid inside. I felt an air of excitement as everyone settled down with their boxes.

"I want to see Kokoa open her gifts first," I said.

"Okay," responded Kokoa, taking the small present.

Behind the wrapping paper was more paper. A slip of paper lay inside. As I leaned over, I noticed it was a coupon from Akako good for one free favor.

"Thanks," said Kokoa, eyes gleaming. "I'll make use of this, Aka-baka."

"I already regret giving it to you," he responded.

Kokoa's next present was from Angel. It was a cute, blue bunny plushie. I was surprised to see Kokoa squealing happily and hugging it. Looks like she has a soft spot for stuffed animals.

"I'll call you hopper," she giggled.

Her next gift was from me. It wasn't much, but I'd put together a scrapbook of out journey together, complete with pictures.

"Thanks," she said, flipping through the pages.

I nodded as she picked up her final present from Takuya. She gasped happily as she pulled out a glimmering, snowflake necklace. I could tell she liked it as she happily put it in.

"Because you're as cold as ice," joked Takuya.

Kokoa rolled her eyes and gave him a light punch in the arm. They looked so cute when they teased each other.

Then, we watched Takuya open his presents. He didn't get too overly excited at any of them, but he seemed content enough. He'd received a new shirt from Angel which he thought was okay. Akako had given him money. Knowing Akako, he probably just gave him money because he didn't know what to buy. I'd given him a few mugs for his coffee. I knew how he loved his coffee. Kokoa had gotten him not only a big tin of coffee, but another gift as well. She made an amazing painting of Takuya and all of his Pokémon, which he seemed to appreciate.

"My head looks a bit big in the painting," he criticized.

Kokoa snorted. "Because you have a thick skull."

Aw. How cute. They were teasing each other. The shy Angel was the next to open her gifts.

From Akako, she'd gotten a spa coupon. He probably thought she'd like something girly. Takuya had gotten her some hair clips. Kokoa had gifted her with a Pokemart gift card and I'd given her a contest guidebook. I'd overheard her saying that she'd wanted one. She thanked us all silently and we moved on.

Akako then opened his presents. He cautiously unwrapped Kokoa's present, which turned out to be a few rare candies and some healing items.

"Thought your Pokémon might like some stuff," she said.

Underneath the items for his Pokémon was a coupon for one free favor from her. Wow! They'd both been thinking the same thing. Angel had given him a tin of cute, little cookies. Takuya gave him a new pair of shoes. I'd gotten him something I hoped he'd appreciate. One time he'd told me he had lots of nightmares. (A/N: I don't believe I mentioned that before) So I'd given him a lunar wing and a dream catcher. It was nothing too special, but I really hoped it would help him.

I was the last one to open my presents. I opened Angel's first. She'd given me a charm bracelet with Torchic, Combusken, and Blaziken charmed, which I put on immediately. Kokoa had bought me I nice-looking purple scarf. I threw it around my neck happily. It would be useful for the cold weather. Takuya gave me a bag of chocolates, knowing I liked sweets. I was nervous as I opened Akako's box. I was surprised to find nothing in there. I looked over at him.

Then, he whispered to me," Meet me at the fountain downtown and I'll give you your real present."

He then left, waving good-bye and giving his Pokémon some special Christmas pokeblock before he went.

"What was that about?" questioned Kokoa.

"Not sure," I lied. "I'm going to see if he's okay. I'll be back later."

They all nodded and I made sure to give my Pokémon the poffins I'd made before leaving.

I wrapped the scarf Kokoa had given me tighter around my neck, trying to block out as much of the cold as possible. I quickly found my way to the fountain, surprised that it was still flowing in this cold. Akako stood by it, eyes looking high in the sky, distant and thoughtful.

"Akako?" I asked, snapping him out of his trance.

He immediately turned to face me, taking on that serious look he sometimes got when he was about to tell me something either important or slightly confusing.

"Ichigo," he began. "Um..."

"My Christmas present?" I asked, growing ever more curious.

"Right," he nodded. "Um...Ichigo. There's something I have to say..."

"Alright," I responded, my cheeks growing hot even though he hadn't said anything yet."

"I'm sorry," he said without warning.

I was a bit confused. "For what?"

"For not being able to give you the answer you deserve."

"What answer?" I asked, not being able to believe that he meant...

"About your confession."

There it was. He'd brought it up again. I clearly remembered the day I'd confessed. He told me to ask again later when his heart opened more. Then, he'd kissed me on the forehead and left. I'd tried to bury that memory, but now it was all out on the table.

"I-It's fine," I lied, my chest beginning to feel heavy. "I understand. You...you just can't find love right now. You're...you're still nervous about your brother. I get it. You don't want to get close to anyone because you don't want your bond to break."

"You really do understand me," he whispered, but he didn't sound convinced.

I was surprised as he took both my hands in his, gazing into my eyes. I blushed so hard that I thought I might melt. What was he doing?!

"Ichigo...I don't think I'm that confused anymore. After spending so much time with you by my side, I've been opening my heart again. I think...I'm learning to love. You know, when you got hurt fighting Akuma, I was so scared I'd lose you and that it would be like my brother all over again. It wasn't though. I was so relieved that you were okay. I realized then that I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I don't...want to hurt YOU anymore. And the more time I spend pushing you away, I know that it hurts you. It makes you cry..."

Everything he was saying...it overwhelmed me. He was getting so much off his chest and it hit me like bricks...the truth of his words and all of it. I guess I didn't conceal my heartbreak very well. He saw right through my facade. He knew that he was hurting me. But what would happen now?

My chest tightened more and I heard a strange cry escape from somewhere. As the tears rolled down my cheeks, I realized it was my own cry. All the painful days when he never answered me, all the times he'd gotten close to me, but never stated his true feelings, all those times that I'd tried to hide my depression...it all escaped me at once as my bitter tears rained down.

I buried my face in my hands. What he'd said had been true. He WAS hurting me. I couldn't take being around him and never knowing if he loved me or if one day he'd just reject me. All of it had been painful. I thought I'd acted normal enough, but my heart broke every time he smiled at me. My pain ceased as Akako wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. As I felt his tears soak into my shirt, I realized he was crying to.

He stopped crying though as he looked into my eyes, the serious expression back.

"Ichigo...I'm so sorry that I hurt you. I...I think I've found my answer though. I just hope it isn't too late..."

Then, he pulled me forward pressing his lips against mine. The tears ceased immediately as I lost myself in him. It might seem sad, seeing as I'm sixteen, but this was my first kiss. This was the first true connection, the first true bond I'd forged with anyone.

I felt the shattered pieces of my heart healing as his warmth filled me. He kissed me with such passion, such urgency. He needed me. Akako was broken too. He needed me as much as I needed him. And finally, I'd received the answer I'd longed for. Finally, I was loved. Best of all, my Christmas wish had come true.

"It's never too late," I laughed, a few tears still running down my cheeks.

He carefully wiped them, being more gentle than ever. He treated me as if I were the most fragile being he'd ever come in contact with. And right now, I probably was the most fragile thing in existence.

I smiled at him, the rosy blush painted on my cheeks. I blinked my eyes tiredly. I'd cried more than I'd realized. I felt kind of drowsy and...a little dizzy. Just as I was about to fall to my knees, Akako caught me.

"You look exhausted," he laughed. "Here, I'll carry you."

I squealed and blushed as he took me in his arms, carrying me out like a bride. I hid my face in his chest, trying not to think about all of the people who were staring at us. But my eyes fluttered open as something chilly and wet brushed my cheek. I looked up, gasping in surprise.

Tiny, white flakes danced down from the sky, hitting the ground and falling into my hair. Impossible! It was snowing! But it NEVER snowed in Gilder! I laughed, taking a few cold snowflakes in my hands.

"No way!" chuckled Akako, looking around at all the snow.

Then, he looked down at me. I was smiling like a little kid. It was like it was the first time I'd ever seen snow. He smiled at me. His smile seemed perfect. Then, he leaned in and kissed me, still holding me.

_Best Christmas Ever..._

As I was carried home, I found Takuya, Kokoa, and Angel waiting for us at the door. Kokoa punched her fist up in the air in excitement, seeing the way I was being carried.

"It's about damn time, Aka-baka!" Kokoa called.

"Sorry," he responded, not even getting the slightest bit angry with Kokoa. I knew how he felt. NOTHING could ruin this moment for me.

This...was my _favorite Christmas._

** 45 chapters in and at last, cheerfulsilence is canon. Cute, huh? **

** Random person: Boo! There are only two couples and you have so many chapters!**

** Me: Sorry! I'm trying to work on the plot! There isn't always time for love scenes!**

** Random person: More couples!**

** Aaah! I hope you guys are okay with just temper and cheerfulsilence for now. I assure you that more couples will be made. For now, I wish you a Merry Christmas and happy Cheerfulsilenceshipping day! May all your Christmas wishes come true!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	46. Fifth badge and Gilder Conest begin!

Chapter 46

After a VERY exciting Christmas, we woke up the next morning as Marie and Joey called us over. They handed showed us all over to their phone. We'd received a video call from Professor Pine. The Professor smiled at us as we all crowded in.

"How are you all?" she asked.

Kokoa snickered as she stared at Akako and me. "We're REALLY good."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah. Takuya, Akako, and Kokoa are challenging the gym today and then Angel, Kokoa, and I will be competing in the Pokémon contest."

"Sounds like you'll be busy," she laughed. "Hey, after all that craziness is over, can you meet me in Pico town?"

"What for?" asked Akako curiously.

"I have some items I'd like to give you all," she responded. "Kohaku and Miku will be over there too."

"Sure," we all responded. All except for Angel.

"Actually, I'll be travelling on my own after the contest," she said quietly.

"Oh, alright then. Good luck, Angel."

"Thank you Professor," she responded.

"Well, I should go," sighed Pine. "Do your best and beware of Team Millennium, okay?"

"Sure thing!" we all agreed.

"Merry Late Christmas," she laughed. (A/N: It's the 28th for me right now.)

"Too you too," we returned happily.

Then, the video screen went blank as Prof. Pine logged out. We all thanked Marie and Joey for everything and we returned to our rooms to pack up our stuff. We'd be leaving soon. (A/N: Did anyone catch how the names Marie and Joey are close to Mary and Joesph? Hehe.)

I sighed sadly as I packed supplies into my bag. We'd been in this hotel for such a long time, it felt almost like home now. This was the place where I'd had the BEST Christmas ever. I was sad to leave it, but I knew we had to keep moving.

I grabbed my ribbon case and opened it, looking over at the three ribbons. I hoped that I could get five soon. Even if I didn't win this contest, I'd be fine with it. To be honest, I wasn't in a hurry to end my journey. In a way, it felt like it was still the beginning.

I still needed two ribbons and Kokoa needed one. Plus, everyone needed four more ribbons to enter the Petilla League. We all still had quiet a way to go before everything came to an end. And I was fine with that. I hoped I could travel with my friends forever. With Akako forever.

As soon as I was packed, Kokoa practically dragged me out the door. I could tell she was in a rush to earn her fifth ribbon from the psychic gym. I sighed a bit. The more badges they earned, the closer it was for our journey to end. I hoped deep in my heart though that even when this journey through Petilla ended, a new adventure would begin somewhere else. That would be nice.

**P.O.V. Switch. Third person View. Millennium HQ.**

Tsubaki heart pounded faster as Ishi entered the room. Tsubaki sighed inwardly. She wanted to ask him something, but wasn't sure if she should. If she brought it up, it was possible he might leave. Maybe is was for the best though.

"Ishi?"

"Yeah?" he asked, walking up to her.

"Angel is free," she noted, fists clenched. "So why don't you leave Millennium? Akuma is curious about that too. He's trying to get her back because he thinks you'll leave. Why don't you? I don't understand."

Ishi sighed and shook his head. "Angel might've been my blackmail at frst, but she's free now. I'm still tied to Millennium though because of someone else."

Tsubaki stared at him curiously. "Who?"

Ishi chuckled a bit. "You. I'm still here because of you."

"Why? I never asked you to stay!"

"No," he agreed. "But I promised to help bust you out. I'm not leaving without you, Tsubaki. For more reasons than one."

Before Tsubaki could say what she wanted to, Ishi interrupted her. "Akuma's planning something. He wants all his best people, which includes us, to come to his office."

Tsubaki got up to follow him, but was still confused. "What do you mean he has a plan?"

Ishi's face looked grave. "The grunts aren't killing enough. They keep getting defeated by Ichigo and her friends. He's come up with a more...efficient solution."

"Oh no," gasped Tsubaki. When Akuma got ideas, it never ended well.

**Ichigo's P.O.V.**

Angel and I watched together from the bleachers as everyone defeated the gym leader one by one. The gym leader specialized in psychic types. His name was Syd. He had dark purple hair shaped like a bowl with bangs. He wore a weird blue robe. He seemed decently strong, considering he was the fifth gym leader, but he succumbed to everyone. I watched happily as my three friends smiled, holding there fifth badge, the telepathy badge.

Angel and I sighed in relief. While we were happy that everyone one, we had gotten a bit bored just watching and not battling at all ourselves. We both ran over to our friends immediately, knowing where we were heading next.

"Ready for the contest?" asked Kokoa cheerfully.

"Yeah!" we both cheered simultaneously.

"Awesome," smiled Akako, coming over to meet me. "Hopefully you'll win your fourth ribbon."

I smiled happily at Akako but felt a bit bad as I glanced over at Angel. She looked a bit sad. I knew she had a crush on him, so this must bite for her. I hoped she'd get over it soon though. We were such good friends now after all.

"Shall we head to the contest hall?" asked Kokoa, already beginning to walk away with Takuya.

"Yup!" I responded, running after them with Akako and Angel.

I was completely pumped up. I had the opportunity to win my fourth ribbon and I wouldn't waste it. I practically rocketed off from excitement as we arrived at the contest hall.

Kokoa, Angel, and I quickly signed up at the last minute. I sighed in relief that we'd made it on time. The gym battles had taken a bit longer than expected. Then, I ran over to Akako to say good-bye before he went to take his seat.

"Good luck," he said to me.

"I'll do my best whether I win or lose," I promised him.

Then, Akako smiled, kissing my forehead. I blushed madly, still not completely used to the fact he was my boyfriend now. We'd only just started dating.

He chuckled a bit, noticing my shyness. "You really are cute. It's like you're melting."

"It's your fault!" I yelled at him in my nervous, high-pitched voice.

"I've never dated before and I'm calmer than you are."

"Shut up!" I whined. "Just go take your seat."

He chuckled and did as I'd asked, waving as he followed Takuya into the crowd. I sighed and caught my breath, calming myself back down. I always thought that I'd be super happy and romantic when I got a boyfriend, but now that I had one for real, I was all panicky and blushy.

I sighed, calming myself and heading backstage. For this contest, I'd decided to dress up in a cute, sparkly pink dress. I also had my hair in pigtail that rested on my shoulders. The snow from Christmas had melted all too quickly and the weather had become warm again, so I found it suitable to wear this.

As I came backstage, I sat with Angel and Kokoa, staring at the television that displayed the performances of other coordinators. I nervously awaited the moment they'd call my name. I hoped I'd win. I patted the Pokemon egg I'd brought with me. It seemed stupid, but I wanted it to "see" the performance. Then, at last, they called my name.

"Ichigo! You're up!"


	47. Gilder Contest: May the Best Girl Win!

Chapter 47

I entrusted Kokoa and Angel to watch the Shinx egg as I scampered off into the hallway. I took deep breaths as I walked down the hallway and closer to the light of the stage. I clutched my two pokeballs tight, taking one final breath, putting on a smile, finally ready to face the crowd.

I then ran out into the spotlight of the stage, listening to hundreds of people cheer for me, lots of them chanting my name. I felt like a superstar. After receiving three ribbons, you're bound to get SOME fame.

I smiled my brightest, twirling around and tossing my pokeballs up in the air, my Pokemon appearing in a gorgeous pink mist.

"Cuddles! Chestnut! It's your time to shine!"

Marill and Swinub both landed together, leaning on each other and smiling, both in a cute pose. The audience cheered and the Pokemon broke away, ready to hear my instructions.

"Cuddles, use bubble beam!" I called out.

Cuddles sprung into the air, spinning as it blew out lots of sparkling bubbles that shined in the stage lights. Now it was Chestnut's turn.

"Now Chestnut! Ice beam!"

Chestnut leaped up, turning around to freeze every last bubble. Once they were all frozen, they began falling to earth. Chestnut and Cuddles leaped around together as the bubbles fell, shattering into shimmering pieces of dust. The audience was captivated. Then, as the last bubble fell, we bowed, ending our performance.

I called both of them back to their pokeballs and ran off the stage and going towards the backstage area. As I went, I passed by Angel, who was performing next.

"Good luck," I mouthed to her.

"Great job," she whispered to me.

Then, she ran by, ready to perform. I quickly hurried backstage towards the tv. I didn't want to miss her performance.

Kokoa handed me back the Shinx egg and I held it closely as I glued my eyes to the tv. Just now, Angel was running onto the stage, looking less shy than usual. She quickly called out the two Pokémon she'd be using, Pancham and Flabebe.

"Flabebe, use fairy wind!" she commanded.

The tiny Pokémon blew out a beautiful, glimmering pink wind that surrounded the stage.

"Pancham, rain dance!"

As rain fell down from the sky from Pancham's dance, the rain mixed with the fairy wind. The rain shone like diamonds as it fell down and the two Pokémon danced through it, putting on a great show. The rain then stopped as their performance ended.

"Looks like I'm up," cheered Kokoa, getting up from her seat. "Wish me luck!"

She then ran off, almost crashing into Angel as she entered the room. Angel smiled over at me, quickly coming to sit down. I noticed she was pretty wet.

"I hope out performance was great because if it wasn't, I got soaked for nothing," she laughed, squeezing some water out of her hair.

"I was impressed," I noted. "And you seemed so confident out there. What up with the sudden rush?"

She just shrugged, blushing a bit. "I...I just feel more...myself on stage. I don't feel nervous or anything."

"I know what you mean," I said, nodding. "I've always loved to be up on stage, performing in front of people."

We cut our conversation short as we heard the crowd cheering on tv. Kokoa had just entered the stage. She threw up her pokeballs, the capsules causing her Pokémon to come out surrounding by stars. Her two Pokémon were Zoroark and Lucario.

"Ruru, use aura sphere!"

Her Lucario let the blue sphere grow in its hands, then released it in one quick movement. It was Zoroark's turn now.

"Zoro! Shadow claw!"

Zoroark claw glowed with a dark, black hue as it lunged at the huge aura sphere, cutting it apart with the shadow claw. The sphere burst like fireworks in different shades of blue and black it looked absolutely gorgeous. From the cheers of the audience, I knew they liked it too. Kokoa took a bow then left with her Pokémon.

As Kokoa reappeared backstage, each of us waited anxiously as the judges decided who should move on. Then, all the faces appeared on screen. I sighed in relief to see my face appear quickly. Then I heard Angel and Kokoa cheer as they showed up. It looked like we'd all be moving on.

"May the best coordinator win," said Kokoa with a confident smile.

"Agreed," I said.

Angel nodded.

Then, the battle rounds proceeded. Out of the top eight, all three of us easily emerged victorious, our Pokémon shining brilliantly. Now, it was time for the top four match-ups. I looked to the screen, seeing I'd be paired with some random coordinator, Ricardio. However, Angel and Kokoa would have to compete to see who'd move on to the finals.

"Good luck!" I called to them, leaving for my match against Ricardio. As Amber and Ao battled together, I saw how powerful they were getting. Then again, we were facing off against a Venusaur and a Munna, which honestly weren't that much competition. I won easily, having knocked out both of his Pokémon.

Then, I braced myself as Kokoa passed me by, taking my place on the battle field in her fight with Angel. This should be interesting. I knew Kokoa was strong, but I knew nothing about Angel when it came to contests. This would be a fun match for sure.

I turned my attention to the tv as the two of them called out their Pokémon. Angel was battling with Quilladin and Honedge and Kokoa was using Ginger and Pilot. Considering Ginger and Pilot were water and flying types, they were an interesting match up. I wondered how she'd use them.

"Ginger, use flame thrower and Pilot, use air slash!"

The air slash and flame thrower combined together to make one, powerful, glowing attack. It struck into Honedge, but Quilladin quickly dodged, knowing how much damage the flame thrower would do. Honedge was hurting quite a bit from the attack, but got up, not wanting to lose so soon.

"Honedge, use shadow sneak! Quilladin, Aerial ace!"

Somehow, the shadow sneak absorbed into the aerial ace as Quilladin surged forward, light and dark mixing in its attack. It managed to hit both Pilot and Ginger, but the attack soon faded, leaving it open to be attacked again.

"Fire spin!" Kokoa commanded Ginger.

Ginger quickly obeyed, releasing swirling flames at Quilladin. The chubby Pokémon tried to dodge, but a good half of its body endured the hit. Quilladin hissed in pain.

"Oh no," hissed Angel. "Alright then! Both of you, use swagger!"

Both Pokémon attacked Kokoa's with swagger, causing both of her Pokémon to become confused. Kokoa hissed, wondering what to do.

"Come on guys! Ginger, please use fire spin! Pilot, aerial ace!"

unfortunately for Kokoa, both Pokémon hit themselves in their confusion, doing lots of damage to themselves because of the increased attack given to them by Swagger.

Kokoa got even more frustrated, noticing she only had a minute to turn this around. Before she could act, Angel attacked.

"Honedge iron head and Quilladin use aerial ace again!"

Both Pokémon came charging at Kokoa's hitting them hard as they were too confused to try and dodge. The timer ran out as their attack ended. Kokoa sighed in frustration, seeing as Angel was the winner. Kokoa thanked her Pokémon then called them back to their pokeballs.

I smiled a bit as Angel cheered. Looks like I'd be facing her in the final round. As she cheered, something that I'd never seen before happened. Both Quilladin and Honedge evolved at the same time! Quilladin grew into a powerful and cool Chesnaught and Honedge became Doublade. Just as I thought about evolution, I turned to Ao, looking at what her level was. Level 29. One level away from becoming a Gardevoir. I smiled. It would be nice if I could win the ribbon AND get an evolution. This would be fun.


	48. Contest Finish, New Quest Begin!

Chapter 48

I took a deep breath and smiled as I set off onto the stage. It was the final match. Angel VS. me to see who'd receive the Gilder ribbon. I knew her Pokémon had just evolved, so they might prove to be a threat, but then again, Blaziken's attacks should be super effective and Ao would soon evolve. It looked like I could pull off a win.

I heard the crowd cheer as Angel and I both positioned ourselves on the field. I readied myself, pokeballs at the ready. Then, the clock counted down five minutes. t was time to begin.

"Amber! Ao! It's your time to shine!"

As the two Pokémon came out in a shower of sparks, they coordinated themselves, Ao landed cutely in Amber's arms, earning a cheer from the crowds.

Meanwhile, Doublade and Chesnaught made their own entrance, coming out in a whirlwind of sparkles, each landing nicely and staring cooly out at the crowd. I wouldn't let them win.

"Amber, use blaze kick and Ao, use psywave!"

The psywave mixed in wth Amber's attack, her leg glowing with all colors of the rainbow as she charged at Angel's Pokémon. She commanded them to dodge, but my Blaziken was too fast, kicking Chesnaught in the stomach and Doublade...on its blade.

Angel retaliated quickly. "Night slash and needle arm!"

The two Pokémon spun at us with great power, but I refused to let Angel take over the battle.

"Counter! Amber, use fire punch! Ao use psychic!"

Amber's fire punch easily overpowered Chesnaught's needle arm and we managed to do some serious damage. Ao also managed to stop Doublade in its tracks with her psychic. I looked over at the scoreboard. I was ahead and I hoped to keep it that way.

"Double aerial ace!" Angel commanded her Pokémon.

Both of them launched into two beautiful aerial aces, twirling around each other until they smacked right into my Pokémon. Blaziken and Ao hissed in pain, but stood strong. They wanted to win as much as I did.

"Kick her ass, Ichigo! I believe in you!" I heard Akako call from the stands.

'Oh, Akako, you romantic fool,' I thought sarcastically to myself. Any other boyfriend would cheer nicely, not tell their girlfriend to kick someone's ass, but Akako was different and different isn't so bad.

"Amber and Ao, combine your fire spin and psychic!" I called out.

They did as instructed. As Blaziken spewed its spiralling flames, Ao took control of them, sending them flying at our opponents with psychic. If Angel's Pokémon could've dodged, they would've, but the flames encompassed the stage and they were locked in. As the fire's smoke cleared, it revealed a fainted Doublade. Chesnaught was her only Pokémon she had left.

"Oh no!" I heard her panic.

I smiled, feeling a bit victorious. Two minutes left and one of her Pokémon was already down. I could do this!

"Chesnaught, giga impact!"

Chesnaught launched at my Pokémon in a blaze of white light, striking both of them. As the light faded, I found both of my Pokémon still standing. With one minute left now, I had to act quickly.

"Alright guys! Amber, flamethrower now! Ao, will-o-wisp!"

Both of them shot their flames toward Chesnaught, earning an effective hit just as the buzzer sounded to end the battle. My eyes immediately darted over to the scoreboard. I smiled. I'd won. Angel had put up a good fight I'll admit, but in the end, we'd done it!

"Congratulations," Angel called over to me.

"Thanks! That was a great fight!" I returned.

Then, I heard Ao shrieking and turned over to face her. As predicted, a white light surrounded her as she evolved. As the light faded, it revealed a gorgeous, blue Gardevoir. I gasped and ran over to give Ao a hug.

"Awesome! You look so pretty!"

Ao blushed a bit, giving me a hug back. Then, not wanting to be left out, Amber joined the hug and I hugged her back. A formal looking man broke up our group hug as he came to present to Gilder ribbon.

I walked over to him, staring in awe at the ribbon. This ribbon was a light blue color with white stripes and surprisingly enough, snowflakes. They must have remodeled the ribbon in honor of the town snowing for the first time.

Thousands of emotions surged through me as I picked up the ribbon. I'd cherish this ribbon especially. Why? I'd received it in the town where Id had a GREAT Christmas, got a boyfriend, and had a fun contest. This ribbon would hold lots of memories. I thanked the man for the ribbon, then ran off stage with my Pokémon.

Backstage, Kokoa greeted me warmly. "You avenged me!"

"Avenged you?" I asked. "But you didn't die."

"Still. Anyway, you won! You have four ribbons now! Looks like you've finally caught up with me."

"I guess so," I laughed, looking down at the ribbon again.

She took my by the wrist, pulling me into the dressing rooms. "Come on! Let's change and hurry over Pico town. Prof. Pine is waiting!"

I quickly changed back into my old clothes, feeling like my usual self again. A nice shirt and shorts were all I needed. I didn't like to girl up too much if not necessary. I then took my hair out of the pigtails, letting it flow naturally.

I then hurried out of the dressing room, following after Kokoa and Angel. We stepped back into the contest hall's main room, meeting up with Takuya and Akako.

Takuya started talking to Kokoa about the contest as I headed over to meet Akako. He smiled lovingly at me and I felt my heart fly away. Why couldn't I stay calm and cool like Kokoa? I felt more nervous around Akako now than I had when we weren't dating.

He seemed to notice my panic. "What's wrong? You WON!"

I took a deep breath, calming myself down. "Um...I'm just sad. Angel's leaving the group then."

Akako, Takuya, Kokoa, and I all turned to face Angel at once. The shy, pink-haired girl looked at us nervously, clutching her bag tightly.

"Um...it was nice travelling with you all, but...I'm going my own way. I..I'm going to try to win my fifth ribbon and gain some courage. Hopefully, we'll meet again."

"Definitely," I agreed.

"Maybe at the Grand Festival," Kokoa chimed in.

Angel nodded, then waved. "So long!"

We all waved until she disappeared into the crowd of people leaving the Contest hall. I turned back to Akako as she vanished.

"I guess we're heading for Pico now."

"Yup," he agreed. "There should be a gym there, but I don't think Pico holds any contests."

"Then I guess I'll get a little vacation," I said, smiling.

He nodded then grabbed my hand. I blushed, locking my fingers with his. Kokoa and Takuya looked at us impatiently. I could tell they wanted to get to the gym and see what Prof. Pine wanted to give us.

"Come on guys! Before we leave you in the dust!" Kokoa shouted.

"I'll leave YOU behind if you don't hurry," said Takuya, walking ahead.

Kokoa rolled her eyes and ran after him while Akako and I followed behind, hands intertwined, at our own pace. I had to say, Akako and I really fit together. I felt safe and secure with him and so warm and fuzzy inside. It was a great feeling.

Now, we were off travelling again. My legs were already complaining. I hated walking. Going on a Pokémon journey was just an excuse for tricking you into exercising! I enjoyed it though. Especially with the thought of obtaining new items and meeting new people. I couldn't wait to see what Pico had to offer.


	49. The Threat Worsens?

Chapter 49

The closer we got to Pico town, the more nervous I began to feel. I felt kind of sick to my stomach, but I knew I wasn't sick or anything. I just had...a bad feeling. I knew something would happen if we got to Pico.

Then, out of nowhere, the crystals that Chiyo had given us came out from us, glowing brightly.

I turned to see my friends freaking out as the gems glowed. I turned to Kokoa, hoping that maybe she'd know what was going on.

"I think...the crystals are reacting to a Pokémon nearby," Kokoa predicted. "Mom said they'd glow if we came towards any rare or legendary Pokémon..."

Akako still looked confused. "Then...where's the Pokémon?"

"How should I know?!" asked Kokoa.

Then, as I stepped forward, my pink crystal grew brighter. "Hey guys! I think the Pokémon is heading towards Pico like us..."

As Takuya stepped forward, his crystal glowed too. "I think Ichigo is right."

Then Akako and Kokoa tested it out, getting the same result. We then travelled normally again, walking quickly towards Pico, the gems brightening with every step. Then, as Pico came into sight, we saw the Pokémon.

We didn't just see the Pokémon though. The Pokémon was surrounded by thousands of grunts. You guessed it, MILLENNIUM grunts. They seemed different in some way though.

Coming a bit closer, I got a better look at the grunts. They weren't just fighting with knives and weak robots anymore. Now, the robots and grunts seemed to have combined, eac h grunt looking half robot, one of their arms shaping like some kind of gun.

If you think that sounds bad, it only gets worse. In the middle of all the grunts stood Akuma, his red eyes gleaming more so than ever. He held a gigantic weapon in his hands. Some kind of gun. But out of the gun didn't come bullets. A weird, purple mist came out of it, causing the Pokémon they'd surrounded to fall to the ground, knocked clean out.

It gets worse still. Me, being an avid reader, had always read everything, including newspaper articles from different regions. Never had I seen them in real life, but I knew who these people were from their pictures.

Surrounding Akuma, acting as bodyguards and now helping him with his plans, stood the villains from every region. Giovianni, leader of Team rocket from Kanto. Then there were Archie and Maxie, leaders of the teams Magma and Aqua. Also, there stood Cyrus from Team Galactic of Sinnoh. Finally, there was Ghestsis of Team Plasma from the Unova region. The only leader missing was Lysandre, but I believe he died with the rest of Team Flare.

Kokoa stared at them in horror. "Leaders from around the regions...? Weren't they defeated? What are they doing here?"

Akako hissed. "And they've just captured another legendary."

Which Pokémon had they taken? The lunar Pokémon Cresselia, giver of good dreams. She'd been taken out right before our eyes with but a single shot of that purple mist from Akuma's gun. It looked like he'd been stepping up his game.

Then, Akuma turned to face us, smirking down at us all and looking interested in the four crystals flying around us. Akuma and the other leaders started walking towards us, ordering the grunts not to move.

I wanted to run away from them, but Kokoa, Takuya, and Akako all stood still. I took a deep breath, trying to be brave. I took Akako hand tightly in mine, waiting in fear as all the leaders came to meet us.

Akuma chuckled at us. "Hello. What brings you to Pico?"

Kokoa was the one to speak. "Prof. Pine wanted us to meet her here..."

"Matsuyo? Well, you won't be seeing the Prof. for a while. I finally managed to take her back to my lair. Hehe."

I glared at him, hatred boiling for him within me. Looks like we'd gotten here too late. Now he had Prof. Pine and who knows how many more legendaries he needed to obtain.

"See Cresselia here?" Akuma said, pointing at the legendary. "She's one of the many legendaries I'll be capturing. And once I have all the legendaries, then it'll come to Millennium's grand finale. We'll kill all the legendaries at once, so that the world will know of our power. And once the legendaries are gone, we can easily get rid of the other Pokémon vermin and make a world of humans alone."

"You bastard," Akako cursed. "What do you think will come of killing all these Pokémon?!"

"Very good question," Akuma noted. "For one thing, there won't be any more organizations such as Team Rocket, ruling the world with Pokémon. No offense, Giovanni."

The Team Rocket boss chuckled a bit. "None taken. We're on your side now after all."

Akuma nodded and continued. "Also, we might have more peace in the world without those beasts. And finally...well, that reason is more personal."

Kokoa death glared at him. "What do you mean personal? All those reasons you just said, they aren't the real reason you're doing all this! You were just jealous of all the time mom was spending with Pokémon instead of you! Isn't this all just because of your psychotic jealousy?!"

Akuma towered over Kokoa, hissing at her. "Yes. To be honest, I was compltely jealous of those damned Pokémon. You and your mother...you cared for your Pokémon more than me! It was the same with my parents. All they wanted to do was raise Pokémon, not a child! The named me Akuma for a reason. They hated me! They thought I was a demon! Pokémon won't reign over me anymore!"

"You're insane, dad!" Kokoa cried. "We never loved Pokémon more than you! How could we?! How could I?! You're my dad...and even now that you've snapped, I still love you dammit! Can't you just give this up and try to patch things up with mom?!"

"NO!" Akuma yelled. "It's too late now! All your saying are lies! I won't believe you!"

He then turned to all the evil leaders behind him. "All of you, I want you to tie these brats up! We'll be taking them with us..."

Akako then tugged me forward as we started to run away, Takuya and Kokoa following behind us. We weren't quick enough though. I screamed as Ghetsis grabbed me. I fell down on my face, earning myself a bloody nose and he started dragging me back by my feet.

I watched in horror as Cyrus tackled and tied of Akako. Followed by Takuya who was taken out by Giovanni. Finally, after having being held down by both Archie and Maxie, Kokoa was taken at.

"Why are you doing this?!" I screamed at all of them. "Don't you NEED Pokémon for your evil plans?!"

Ghetsis chuckled a little. "At first, yes. But now, if Team Millennium can complete their plan, killing all Pokémon, we'll be feared by the people of the world and we can rule over them. All it takes is joining Team Millennium."

Then, before any of us could say another word, they put duck tape over our mouths. I tried to struggle and fight, but they eventually put it on me. Then, my eyes widened in fear as the purple mist that had taken out Cresselia surrounded me. I would've screamed if I weren't ducktaped.

My heart beat faster as I tried not to inhale, afraid of what the mist might do to me, but at last, my lungs gave in as I breathed in the mist. Suddenly, my arms and legs felt heavy. I couldn't move them anymore. The same feeling came to my stomach and chest. Then, my neck and head. At last, my eyes lids closed. They were too heavy to keep open. And everything turned black.


	50. Another Escape!

Chapter 50

**Wow. 50 whole chapters and over 300 reviews. This has come so far. I'd like to thank you all for reading and reviewing and I hope you'll keep reading until the end. Now, let's continue. I ended in a cliffhanger. Let's go!**

I awoke with a pounding headache. I cursed under my breath and tried to sit up. As my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I saw I was in what looked like a dungeon. Unable to stand, I tried to crawl over to the bars, but something held me back, cutting into my ankle. My foot was chained to the wall.

I moaned, rubbing my temples, trying to help my headache. I looked up, seeing a torn up calendar. I looked at the date. December 30th. Almost New year's. Then, I remember that my friends and I had been kidnapped by Akuma.

'Happy New Years to me,' I thought sarcastically.

I looked around the cell. It looked like any other dungeon, small, empty, and lonely. It smelled musty and I noticed my clothes were damp. I noticed a bucket nearby and I cringed when I figured out what I was supposed to do with it. Or rather, do _in_ it.

I shivered coldly and I whimpered a bit, feeling scared and lonely. I was by myself. I didn't know where any of my friends were. I didn't see any guards or any of the leaders. I didn't see Akuma either. Would I just stay in here until I rotted away?

Then, much to my displeasure, someone did come. At last I wasn't alone anymore. My kidnapper, Ghetsis had come over for a little visit. He pulled up a chair, staring at me through the bars.

I felt like a Deerling in headlights as he stared at me. I suddenly felt self-conscious, wanting to hide myself, but there was no way to hide in this cell. I just had to dal with his cold staring.

"If you need to use the restroom, the bucket-"

"I know what it's for!" I cried, feeling more embarrassed and awkward than ever.

He chuckled, amused by me. "I can see why Akuma has taken an interest in you. You're a unique girl."

"How so?" I questioned, not understanding why Akuma thought so highly of me.

Ghetsis didn't answer me, he just observed something he was holding in his hands. They were our Pokémon tracking crystals.

"Who gave these to you?" he asked.

"Akuma's ex-wife, Chiyo," I answered, not daring to lie.

"Akuma says these can track Pokémon. Is that true?"

"Yes," I answered again truthfully.

Now you may be thinking that I'm a wuss for not trying to be brave and lying, but in my current position, lying was a bad idea. They could kill or torture me if they wanted or hurt my friends or my Pokémon that they'd taken from me.

"Where are my friends?" I then questioned him. "And my Pokémon!"

Ghetsis sighed. "I'm afraid I can't tell you about your Pokémon. As for your friends, you'll join them soon enough. Now I should take these crystals to Akuma. Maybe we'll meet again, Miss Ichigo."

"Wait!" I cried, more fearful of being alone than of talking with a villain.

Of course, he kept walking, leaving me behind in this dark cell, encompassed by silence. (A/N: I actually had a nightmare I was trapped in a dark room where everything was completely silent. I was actually terrified.)

I was drowned in my worried thoughts. I was scared of what they'd done with my Pokémon and my Shinx egg. Would they be cruel enough to kill something that hasn't even been born? I also worried for my friends. Were they in the same position as me or were they going through worse?

Just then, another villain came down. Akuma. He held a key in his hand. He slowly unlocked my cell door and walked right in, towering over me, his red eyes piercing into my soul.

"You'll be coming with me," he said, tying my hands with rope and releasing me from my cell.

I tried to stand up, but stumbled, unable to walk after just sitting here for so long. He kicked me hard until I got up again, walking unsteadily behind him. As I wiped my nose, I noticed lots of dry blood. That's right. I'd earned a bloody nose when Ghetsis had taken me down.

I shivered in fear as I passed more cells, filled with police officers and detectives that probably had tried to interfere with Millennium. Finally, I was led out a door and outside, the sun gleaming in my eyes.

I was taken to a courtyard where my friends already stood, grunts surrounding the area. I wondered what they were going to do with us. Then, Akuma pushed me forward and right into Akako who caught me before I fell.

Akuma walked up on a stage before us, his cruel smile making my heart sink. All the other evil leaders stood behind him, looking down at us with evil smirks or emotionless expressions.

Finally, Akuma spoke. "I'll give the four of you three choices. Number one, we could get rid of you now. And by that, I mean kill all of you."

I winced, imagining what he'd do to us. Even thought our hands were tied, Akako found a way to take my hand, trying to comfort me even though he was just as scared as I was.

"Choice number two," he continued. "You can join Team Millennium as I've offered countless times before. This time, I'll make it the very last time I'll ask."

The four of us glared at him, each despising the very thought of joining his sick team. If we joined, we'd be forced into killing our own Pokémon. I'd never do that.

"Finally, I'll let you all go."

My eyes widened in surprise. There was no way he'd just release us, right?

"But there's a catch."

'Of course there's a damn catch,' I hissed mentally.

"If I let you go, we'll kill not only your Pokémon, but Matsuyo Pine as well."

That commander Hatsuyo guy then walked on stage, pushing a battered Pine in front of him. He also gave our pokeballs to Akuma.

"What'll it be?" he asked, deadly serious about going through with the third choice.

"Choice four!" Kokoa suddenly shouted. "We kick your evil ass!"

Kokoa's ropes then fell right off her hands and she revealed a knife she must've stolen from a grunt. She then cut the rest of us free.

Akuma looked outraged. "Everyone, kill these fools!"

My heart beat at top speed as all the half-robot grunts came rinning at us, followed by team leaders. There were so many people! I didn't know how we were supposed to fight them! Just then, Kokoa smiled that evil smile she got when she had a plan.

"Ginger!" Kokoa called.

The fox Pokémon hopped right out of its pokeball. Seeing what she might be planning, I called on Amber. She came out as well. Each of us called out all of our Pokémon. The Pokémon charged at Akuma, running past him and towards us. Akuma was unable to handle the herd of Pokémon all at once.

Our Pokémon came at us, crashing past all the grunts. Amber even carred the Shinx egg back to me.

"Alright!" Kokoa called to the Pokémon. "Attack all at once! Create a distraction!"

The Pokémon all cried out attacks, stirring up dust and atacking grunts. In all the confusion, the four of us managed to rush on stage, grabbing our bags and empty pokeballs and retrieving our stolen crystals.

Akako then hopped on Pidgeot. Amber scooped me up as we ran out. We followed after Kokoa and Takuya who rode on Ginger and Luxray. We made it back inside just as the smoke cleared.

Kokoa led us forward and down a spiralling staircase. Then, as we arrived at a door, Ginger knocked it down, leading us back outside.

"If we follow a path through the woods," Kokoa called to us. "We'll be able to get back to Pico town."

"What about Prof. Pine?!" I called, realizing we'd left her.

"We can't go back for her now!" shouted Kokoa. "We'll have to get some help!"

I nodded, but I still didn't like the idea of leaving her. What would they do with her? There was also something preying on my mind. I knew that all those evil leaders had wanted power, but why would they join Team Millennium? Did they really trust in what Millennium was doing or did they have some bigger intention? I wasn't sure, but I hoped that we'd be able to figure things out. For now, all I could do was go to Pico.


	51. Operation: Rescue Pine!

Chapter 51

After our bad experience of being kidnapped, we escaped and travelled to Pico. Now, we all sat together in a hotel room, cleaning wounds and wallowing sadly. I brought a cold wash rag to my nose, which had started bleeding again. It was sunset and we were all exhausted.

Kokoa hissed angrily as she cleaned out a cut on her elbow. Takuya didn't have any cuts, but there were a few bruises along his left arm. Akako had a cut along his cheek. We'd all gotten a bit beaten up. I wasn't worried about _us _though. I was worried about Professor Pine. We'd left her behind when we'd made our grand escape. Who knows what had happened to her now.

"That sucked," I whined and hissed at the same time. "We just left her there."

"I know," growled Kokoa. "I don't like it either. We'll have to call the police or someone to get her back."

"The police won't help!" I snapped at her. "I saw a whole squad of policemen caged back at the lair! They won't help at all!"

"What do you think we should do then?!" Kokoa shouted. "We can't go back there! It's too dangerous!"

"Since when has danger stopped us before?!" I retorted. "I...I won't just leave the Professor there to just die! Or help Millnnium! Or whatever it is they've done with her!"

"_ENOUGH!" _Akako screamed, breaking us up. "We all just need to calm down and just _think! _We won't leave Pine there, okay?"

I nodded, but still didn't feel convinced. I sighed, hugging my knees to my chest, trying to think of what to do. Akako stared at me sadly, scooching closer and wrapping his arm around me. I laid my head on his shoulder, trying to calm myself down. Just then, the silent Takuya came up with something.

"What if we stuck back in disguised as Millennium grunts like we did when we broke Angel out?"

"You're a genius!" I shouted.

Kokoa nodded. "Yeah. Actually, I kept the outfits in case of an emergency..."

"We should wait though," Akako said. "We all need rest. Besides, I don't think just the four of us should go alone. Pine said Miku and Kohaku were here, right? It would be nice to build a bigger team..."

"But we don't have enough outfits," I mentioned.

Kokoa looked to Takuya and they nodded at each other. "We'll give our outfits to them and the two of us can distract Millennium while you free Pine. That is, if they agree to it."

"Right," Akako sighed. "Let's worry about that tomorrow though. I for one, am barely keeping my eyes open."

"Yeah," agreed Kokoa. "We should rest up for now. I mean it. I'm talking to you, Ichigo. Stop worrying nd sleep otherwise our whole mission will be worthless. We can't have you falling asleep on the job."

"Alright," I sighed. "You do have a point."

Everyone nodded. Then, Akako unwrapped himself from me and got up, following Takuya out the door and into their room.

"See you tomorrow," Akako said, waving at me.

"Bye!" I returned.

Once both guys were out the door, I yawned and grabbed the pink nightgown from my bag, changing into it. Once I was in it, I crawled into bed, suddenly feeling very tired. I closed my eyes, thinking happy thoughts instead of worrying. And I fell asleep quickly.

XXX

I woke up as Kokoa shook me, getting me up quickly. "Come on, Ichigo. Takuya found out that Miku and Kohaku are staying in the hotel too. Hurry up! We're going to go and talk to them."

I moaned and sprang out of bed, hurrying into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth and hait. Once I was ready, I rushed out, grabbing my bag and catching a Millennium lab coat that Kokoa threw at me.

We then rushed out the door, joining up with Akako and Takuya in the hall.

"Room 15," said Takuya, telling us which room they were staying in.

I nodded, smiling when I remembered our room number. Room 12. We'd been closer to them than I'd realized. We walked a few feet until we reached room 15. Kokoa knocked loudly on the door, hoping that they were awake.

Kohaku answered the door, glasses off and rubbing his eyes tiredly. It looked like he was just waking up. He squinted at us.

"Oh hey guys! Come in!" he greeted, gesturing for us to enter.

We entered one by one, finding Miku asleep on the table. I laughed, then realized something. These two were _sharing_ a room.

Realizing what I was thinking, Kohaku blushed. "Ichigo, it isn't like that!"

I blushed. "S-Sorry. I shouldn't be thinking that. This isn't a lemon anyway."

Kohaku nodded, laughing nervously. "Miku! Wake up!"

Miku groaned, lifting her head from the table and pushing her purple hair out of her face.

"Oh hi!" she greeted us. "What are you doing here?"

"We need your help," Kokoa replied.

"With what?" Kohaku asked, putting his glasses on.

"Professor Pine was kidnapped by Team Millennium," I growled. "We need your help to bust her out."

"The Prof. was kidnapped?!" Miku questioned.

Kokoa nodded. "We need you two to dress up as grunts and help us free Pine."

Kohaku looked unsure. "Shouldn't we leave something like that up to the police?"

"That won't work," I sighed. "Team Millennium...well...let's just say cops can't help."

"Isn't this dangerous?" asked Miku.

"Duh!" snapped Kokoa. "But we can't leave her with Millennium! Who knows what they'll do, or what they've _done _with her. Please help us! Takuya and I are even actng as a distraction."

"I'm not so sure," Kohaku sighed. "But Prof. Pine was the one who gave us our Pokémon in the first place. I...I guess we owe her this."

"If Kohaku's in, so am I," sighed Miku.

"Thank you!" I burst out, growing more worried the longer we had to wait.

"Alright," smiled Kokoa, handing out the Millennium lab coats. "Put these on. Since Millennium knows what all of us look like, try to change your hair and scowl more."

Miku nodded, pulling her hair up into a bun, throwing on the lab coat. Kohaku removed his glasses again, sticking them in the lab coat's pocket. Akako then threw his on, messing up his hair a bit. I parted my hair differently, putting on the coat. Then, we were ready.

"Alright," smiled Kokoa. "Let's go and free Pine!"

I could tell that everyone was nervous, but I'm sure it would all work out in the end. It always did for us. And even if it turned out Pine was...I can't say it, but if she was, we'd still bring back her...body. I had a feeling she was alive though and we'd free her. Even if we got hurt in the process.


	52. Success?

Chapter 52

I don't know how Kokoa managed to remember the directions so perfectly, but we were waiting outside Millennium's lair in about twenty minutes. We watched from afar as grunts walked in and out, holding weapons or bringing things back.

There was an air of fear and uncertainty. No one was sure if our plan would succeed or not and we didn't even know if Pine was okay or not. Sensing my emotions as usual, Akako took my hand, pretending he wasn't just as if not more nervous than I was. Takuya and Kokoa were holding hands too.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this," Miku suggested in a shaky voice.

"No!" I hissed, trying not to yell. "We have to save her. I won't let Millennium hurt her."

Akako nodded, agreeing with me. "I already decided I don't want to see anyone get hurt anymore. If there's something we can do to save her, we should do it."

Kohaku agreed as well. "Miku, we do sort of owe Prof. Pine. She helped us start our journeys and she came to Pico just to give us supplies. In a way, it _is _our fault that she got captured."

Miku still looked scared, but she gave in. "I guess you're right. I don't know what I'd do without my Blastoise."

Kohaku nodded. "And my Serperior."

(A/N: Yes. Kohaku and Miku's Pokémon evolved.)

Kokoa and Takuya stared out, looking for a good chance to go in. "Alright guys, we're going to cause a distraction. Once the grunts start chasing us, run in and find Pine. Got it?"

"Got it!" we all called back.

The two nodded, then screamed, running in towards the lair. I watched worriedly as grunts took notice of them, trying to capture them. Somehow, Kokoa and Takuya ran past them and into the lair.

"The coast is clear! Let's go!" Akako directed us.

The four of us then ran in, not getting trouble from any other grunts. I almost gagged as we walked through the entrance, the unmistakable metallic scent of blood infiltrating my nose, the scent burning.

Akako, Miku, and Kohaku smelled it too, but they knew we had to keep moving. I stopped, recognizing the spiral staircase that led down to the dungeons.

"Guys! Down here!" I directed.

Akako took the lead, stepping carefully down first. I came after him, followed by Miku, then Kohaku. I would've complained about how long the staircase was, but now was no time to complain like a little kid. We were on a mission. It was do or die.

Akako helped me down the rest of the way as we reached the bottom of the steps. Miku and Kohaku looked frightened as they saw the dungeon area. I just hissed, anger burning within me. I had a feeling that Pine was here somewhere.

Then, Kohaku mentioned something important. "We don't have any keys to unlock these doors."

"Not exactly," piped up Miku, holding a pokeball.

She tossed it up in the air, the ice-type, Vanilluxe, appearing out of it.

"Vanilluxe can use its ice beam to make ice keys for these doors."

"You're a genius!" praised Kohaku. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

Our happy looks disappeared as we passed the first cell. Inside, was an Officer Jenny that looked like she was all the way from Unova.

"Please let me go," she begged.

I looked at the others. "I know we're here to save Pine, but can we please release the others?"

"Of course," Akako answered immediately. "We can't just leave them like this."

Vanilluxe then made a key to fit the door. Miku twisted the key, unlocking the cell. Jenny's eyes lit up as she stumbled out.

"Thank you," she told us, running up the steps once she could walk properly again.

We did the same to various other cops and detectives that had been imprisoned by Millennium. I gasped as we came to the final jail cell. One reason I gasped was because there was no Pine. The second reason I gasped was because I saw Ishi behind bars.

"Hey babe," Ishi laughed, staring at me from within the cell.

"What are you doing in there?!" I questioned.

Ishi sighed. "When Angel escaped, the couldn't tie me to Team Millennium anymore, so the only way they thought they could keep me with them was if they caged me. They still use me to track Pokémon of course, but I'm always caged up and looked over now."

"Do you want us to unlock you?" I asked. "We could free you from Millennium once and for all..."

"NO!" he shouted immediately, surprising me. "I can't leave her. Not without Tsubaki."

"What's with you and my sister?" Kohaku questioned Ishi. "Why do you care about her?"

"Are you Kohaku?" Ishi suddenly asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"You're her blackmail," Ishi stated bluntly. "I'm not sure if you ever noticed, but Millennium has a tracker on you. If Tsubaki ever tries to escape, they'll find and hurt you."

"W-Why are you telling me this?" Kohaku asked.

"Not sure," Ishi answered. "But please. Keep me here. I'm here to help your sister. Anyway, what the hell are you people doing here?"

"We're here to find Prof. Pine," answered Akako, glaring at Ishi, clearly angry that he'd called me 'babe'.

"Oh. I know where she is," he responded.

"You do?! Tell us!" I demanded.

"Up the spiral staircase and down the hall to the right, he's put her in her own room. He's trying to get her to work for him, but she's resisting. I don't think he's feeding her. Might want to hurry and save her before Akuma goes to check on her."

"Alright," Akako responded. "Let's get moving!"

I stayed behind as everyone started running. I turned to face Ishi. "Please, stay safe."

"I will," he responded. "Now hurry up and find Pine."

I nodded and ran to meet my friends, my legs moving faster than I think they ever have. The staircase suddenly didn't seem as long as we sped up it. Soon, we were back on the main floor, faced with two different hallways. Left or right?

Remembering Ishi's directions, I ran down the right hallway, Akako and the others following closely behind. I skidded to a halt as I heard tears coming from a room. I turned, looking through a little window in the door. I couldn't see much, but I noticed a heap of blue hair.

"She's in here!" I called to the others who'd just caught up to me.

"Vanilluxe!" Miku called.

The ice cream Pokémon nodded, using it's ice to unlock the room door. Immediately, the Professor's head jerked over at us. She looked scared at first, but then she recognized us.

The Prof. Stood up, glomping all of us, forming one huge group hug.

"Thank you, kids," she said thankfully. Then, being the adult she was, she scolded us. "What are you doing in such a dangerous place? You could've gotten hurt!"

"Can't you just thank us and we can get out of here?" Akako chuckled. "Come on, we have to find Takuya and Kokoa!"

"Talking about us?"

We turned around, smiling when we saw Takuya and Kokoa. They looked a bit roughed up and sweaty from all their running, but it looked like they were just fine. The Prof. smiled, feeling relief.

"We need to get out of here!" Kokoa hissed. "We shook off the grunts, but probably not for long..."

We nodded, rushing forward. Pine stumbled on her broken high heels and Kohaku and Akako both helped her run forward, being her support. We ran quickly back into the main hall and out the door just as I heard some grunts screaming.

We sped up, knowing they must have heard us. I screamed as a knife flew past my head. Akako grabbed my hand, pulling me forward. We dived into the bushes as I heard more knives fly.

Once we were in the bushes, we slowed down, but still kept running. We couldn't risk getting caught by them. We all slowed to a walk as we got halfway to Pico. Pine sighed in exhaustion and relief.

"I guess I should hire a bodyguard," she noted. "I can't let Akuma catch me again."

I wasn't sure why, but Kokoa stared at the Prof. strangely, as if she were trying to remember something. I shrugged it off, just happy that we were almost back in town.

"Thank you, Arceus," I whispered as we arrived in Pico.

Everyone took off the Millennium outfits, stuffing them into their bags. We all kept walking until we were safely inside of the hotel. Miku and Kohaku followed us into our room. Akako closed the door, locking it. It was time for us all to have a little chat.


	53. Date Night!

Chapter 53

We all crowded around in one big circle on the floor. Prof. Pine grabbed her bag, pulling various objects out of it. She handed out items to each of us, waiting until we had them all before she explained.

She held up one of the items. "This is an Xtransceiver. You can use it to make video chat calls with each other. I assume this will make your journey much easier."

We all nodded, strapping them onto our wrists. Mine was red and purple. I could definitely make us of it.

The Prof. then grabbed a bunch of different items. "This isn't much, but I've brought a few potions and full heals and such for you to use."

We all thanked her and sorted out the items, dividing them evenly between us. I stuffed the items in an open pocket of my bag then faced Prof. Pine again.

"I have one more thing to give you all," she said, handing use something.

It was some sort of little usb or something. "It's an addition to your pokedexes. Before, the pokedex could only identify about half of Petilla's Pokémon, now you can look them all up."

We need, each grabbing our pokedexes and inserting the little card. The pokedex beeped, its list of unknown Pokémon growing longer. Wouldn't this be fun to fill she asked sarcastically?

Suddenly, it looked like Kokoa had an epiphany. "You!" she yelled, pointing at Pine.

"Yes?" asked Pine confusedly.

"You used to know my dad back in Trainer school! I remember seeing your picture in one of his old yearbooks."

"Yes. I knew your father," Pine sighed. "Chiyo and I actually competed for his heart. It's obvious who won. I never expected that your father would ever...turn into...this monster."

"You actually know Akuma?!" Akako said, clearly confused. This hadn't been something we ever would've suspected. So Akuma and Prof. Pine had history. Weird.

"The past is the past," Pine then remarked. "And I'll do whatever it takes to take him and Millennium out."

We all nodded and Kokoa looked distant. "I'm curious about something...why are all those Team leaders on his side? I mean, they need Pokémon for their schemes, so why would they suddenly want to kill the Pokémon?"

"I was wondering that too," I said, thinking.

Everyone went silent, trying to think of why all these organizations would combine. Suddenly, I remembered something.

"Millennium is sending grunts across the regions to search for the legendaries, right?" I asked.

"Yes," Pine verified. "Millennium wants to kill them all at once in one act of dominance."

I nodded, then continued. "And if Akuma gets all the legendaries in one place, couldn't the leaders overthrow Akuma and use the legends for their own purposes?"

Everyone's faces went pale, shocked expressions etched into their faces. I suddenly realized the truth of my own words. Their was a high probability that I was correct. That might be exactly what they're planning.

"You might be right, Ichigo," growled Pine. "Listen, I'm going to report everything to the police. I want you kids to just continue your journey until I contact you again, Okay?"

"Okay," we all agreed, feeling a bit uncertain though.

Pine nodded and unlocked the door, leaving our room. Miku and Kohaku got up too.

"See you guys later!" called Miku.

"We'll be heading over to the gym and leaving soon," Kohaku noted. "Maybe we'll call you with the Xtranscievers sometime."

"Sure!" I called back.

"Bye!" we called at the same time.

The two of them smiled then left the room, closing the door behind them. I looked to my three trainer friends.

"Are you guys going to the gym today?" I asked.

"No," Kokoa sighed. "I think I need a breather."

"Same," noted Takuya.

"Well if no one's going to the gym," Akako began, speaking to me. "Do you want to go on a date?"

I blushed, feeling like I was going to faint. I realized that this would be our first real date. It almost seemed too good to be true.

"Sure," I said, blushing and looking like a flustered idiot. "Do I need to get dressed up or anything?"

"No," he replied. "You look beautiful the way you are."

I blushed even more. I swear, I don't think there's anyone in history that has blushed more than me. With Akako, it's so hard to think sometimes. That's one of the reasons I love him. He's the only one who makes me get all flustered or blush this much.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked out the door.

"Somewhere," he answered, trying to sound mysterious. "You'll have to see when we get there."

I sighed. In case I haven't said this before, I'm pretty impatient and suspense and surprises just kill me sometimes. I walked beside Akako, curiously looking around and guessing where he might lead me.

Then, Akako suddenly covered my eyes. "We're almost there. Don't peek."

"Just let me see!" I whined, not being able to stand the suspense.

"Be patient," he told me, leading me further.

"I'm incapable of that emotion," I shot back.

Then, he took his hands from my face, letting me see. I gasped. It was beautiful here! He'd led me into some sort of place that looked like a garden. There was lush green grass and many gorgeous flowers. There was also a sparkling pond and violinists were playing a sweet tune for many couples that were dancing.

I blushed and felt nervous, realizing Akako wanted me to dance with him. "No way! I _can't _dance. Every time I try, I look like an idiot."

"Then be an idiot with me," chuckled Akako, holding his hand out for me to take.

"Fine," I sighed, reluctantly giving in.

I took his hand, just waiting to step on his feet or do something wrong. He smiled at me warmly and I melted, blushing as usual.

"I seriously don't know how to dance," I mentioned again. "I've only seen it on tv. I've never even tried to slow dance."

"Just follow my lead," he instructed me.

I nodded, putting my hands on his shoulders like I'd seen in all the romance movies I'd watched. He then placed his hands on my waist. Then, he started swaying with me, stepping, and spinning around. I felt as if I was walking on air with him. I blushed, surprised at how well I was doing. He just smiled back at me.

"Where'd you learn to dance so well?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "My grandparents used to teach my brother and I how to be gentlemen and stuff like that. They taught us how to dance, speak, and even eat. I only played along so long though. As you could probably tell, I'm not much of a gentleman."

I laughed, trying to picture him acting all sophisticated. "I for one, think you're fine the way you are."

Suddenly, Akako's eyes grew very loving. He had that confident look on again. "You know I love you, right?"

I blushed surprised by the question. "Yes I do. And I love you too, Akako."

Akako smiled, then closed his eyes, leaning in. I blushed, closing my eyes as well and leaning in closer until our lips met up. I could feel my face heating up from my ever-present blush, but I ignored it, focusing only on this kiss. Focusing on Akako alone.

As we broke away, Akako chuckled at my tomato red face.

"Your face matches your hair," he laughed, pushing a red strand out of my face.

I gave him a look, but couldn't stay mad at him as I gazed into his green eyes. I just shrugged it off with a sigh.

"It's getting late," noted Akako. "How about we start walking back?"

"Sure," I agreed, immediately taking his hand.

He smiled at me with just a tinge of sadness. "You know, you're the only one that gets me. Thank you, Ichigo..."

I wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. "Um...your welcome. I'll always be here for you, ya know."

"I'm glad," he responded, staring at me intently. "Alright. Let's head back."

"Yeah."

I looked up at the stars as we passed by. I smiled although I'm not sure why. I was excited to see what tomorrow would bring me. I knew for sure that these trainer hooligans would be challenging the gym. They'd earn their sixth badge. Again, I felt sad that everything would end soon, but I was also excited to see how it would finish. Because I knew somewhere in my heart that even when our journey was over, another adventure would begin.


	54. Pokemon Pals!

Chapter 54

The next morning, I woke up as Kokoa's Ninetales slapped me awake with its tails. I groaned, not wanting to get up, but doing so anyway. I laughed a little as I saw Kokoa frantically packing, looking excited. She always got pretty happy before a gym battle.

I rolled literally off the bed, then got up, immediately heading into the bathroom to get through my morning activities. Once I'd been clothed, bathed, and brushed, I came out to pack my stuff.

Again, I felt sad as we began to leave yet another hotel. These hotels were more like homes to me than my actual house. They were filled with a million memories, bith good and bad. I enjoyed it all though.

As I finally finished packing, Kokoa grabbed my arm and hoisted me forward. I laughed at her eagerness. I myself didn't understand the wonders of gym battles, but I definitely had the same excited feeling when I competed in contests.

Takuya and Akako waited for us in the hallway as usual, not taking as long to prepare as us girls. I immediately ran over to meet Akako, taking him by the hand. We exchanged smiles at each other then started heading for the gym, the impatient Kokoa and Takuya looking at us as to tell us, "Get moving!"

I sighed a bit as we entered the gym. It was no fun watching som,ething you couldn't compete in yourself. It was kind of fun to see Akako fight though. He always had this confident and powerful look on his face. It was similar to the look he'd give me when he'd get serious or romantic.

This one was a ghost gym. The gym leader was a girl with purplish, dark blue hair. Her eyes looked black and she wore black lipstick. Her nails were also painted black. And her tattered looking dress was black as well. She seemed mysterious, yet powerful. Her name was Aria.

The first one to battle her was Takuya, who managed to argue with Kokoa and defeat the gym leader at the same time. Kokoa immediately ran up to the field next. Kokoa struggled a bit with this girl, who'd managed to capture a Spiritomb, but prevailed in the end. Last, but never least, came Akako. He was a bit irritated by Drifblim's hypnosis, but found a way to win in the end.

I watched as the three of them received their spirit badges. I clapped as the three of them came to meet me, each admiring their new-found badge. Kokoa looked supoer happy, while Takuya almost immediately put his in the case and Akako just admired it for a while before putting it away.

"Two more gyms to go!" I announced.

"Yup," agreed Kokoa. "I'm going to beat both of them and then dominate in the Petilla League!"

"Correct," said Takuya, clearing his throat. "I'll be the won to win the league."

"I think not," argued Akako.

laughed, rolling my eyes as they argued. "Enough guys! You won't be able to even compete in the League if you don't hurry and collect the rest of the badges."

"Good point," sighed Akako.

Kokoa pulled out a map, studying it carefully. "So guys, where should we head next?"

"Are there any towns with gyms _and _contests?" I asked.

She nodded, pointing at one. "Yeah! It's near here too! Down this route is Tiroo city. There should be a contest there and a steel type gym."

"Awesome!" cheered Akako.

Kokoa nodded, excited as well. "Ginger's going to dominate at that gym!"

Takuya looked thoughtful. "Hey, Kokoa? Shouldn't we catch some new Pokémon. I mean, you need six Pokémon in total to even compete in the league."

Kokoa's face went pale. "You're right! We do need more Pokémon!"

"Then let's catch some!" Akako suggested. "There should be plenty of places to catch Pokémon here in Pico. There's a safari zone or if we just go down the route. We can catch them however we want."

"Then let's split up!" said Kokoa. "Takuya and will raid the safari zone and you guys can head down the route. We'll meet back here at 1:00."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed.

We all nodded and began splitting up, heading off in our search for new Pokémon. I smiled a bit as I looked at the egg in my bad. Speaking of new Pokémon, this little girl should be hatching soon enough.

Akako smiled as we arrived at the route. "Here we are. Ready to find some Pokémon?"

"Yup!" I called back.

"Let's split up," said Akako. "You search for Pokémon over to the right and I'll take the left. Okay?"

"Got it!" I agreed.

Once Akako was out of sight, I began my search, but as I stepped forward, a light started flashing. I turned around and saw it was my bag that was glowing. My eyes widened as I took off my bag, opening it up. The egg was growing brightly. Then, as I took it in my arms, it hatched.

The egg cracked into pieces as something came out of it. I awed at a cute little Shinx that had just made its way out.

"Shinx!" it called, smiling up at me, nudging my arm.

"You're so cute!" I squealed, stroking my new baby Pokémon. "It'll be a bit hard to train you though. You're only at level one."

Then, I remembered an item I'd brought along for the journey. I pulled it out, giving it to Shinx to hold. It was an experience share. This way, Shinx could split the experience with my other Pokémon in battle. And considering the strength of my Pokémon, I'm sure Shinx would level up quickly.

Then, I heard a different sound. It was the complete opposite of Shinx's happy cry. This was a sad cry. A Pokémon of some sort was crying near by. I picked up Shinx, running over to see what was making the noise.

I gasped as I found the source. Lying on the ground with cuts all over its legs was an Eevee, hissing in pain. As soon as the Pokémon took notice of me, it leaped to its feet, backing away from me, growling.

At first I was confused, but then I noticed a piece of cloth sitting where Eevee had been. I picked it up, looking to see what it was. On the cloth was an infinity sign. This piece of cloth had come from a Millennium outfit.

Looking at Eevee's cuts and staring at the cloth, I deduced what had happened. a Grunt must have come upon this Eevee and tried to...kill it. The little one must've tried to fight back and ripped off this piece of cloth. Now it had cuts on its legs and the little one didn't look too friendly.

As I inched closer to it the Eevee growled more menacingly, stepping away from me. As it stepped back, I noticed a familiar rock I'd remembered reading about. As the Eevee backed into the moss-covered rock, it began to glow, an unexpected evolution occuring. As the light faded, Eevee had now become Leafeon. The cuts still remained though.

It stared at itself in fear at first, then smirked, realizing that evolution meant it would be stronger. Leafeon growled at me, its tail growing green as it prepared an attack, now getting closer to me.

"Leafeon, stop! I want to help you!" I told it.

Leafeon made a noise that sounded like "tch" meaning it probably didn't believe me. It growled in warning one more time, but as it was about to strike, I don't know why, but I started to sing.

_"Hush, little Pokémon, close your eyes. Feel the calm of my lullaby. If you trust me, I'll keep you safe and warm. There is no need for you to be alarmed. Please, little Pokémon, be my friend. Will you stay with me until the end?"_

Suddenly, the Pokémon got a dreamy look in its eyes, looking more calm. It stopped growling and instead whimpered in apology, padding over to me and laying its head down on my lap. Shinx smiled and pounced on Leafeon's back. Leafeon made a sound that seemed almost like a giggle and beginning pawing Shinx back.

As the two played, I just stared at Leafeon in shock. It had been so hostile at first, but with some song I'd randomly made up and started singing, it had calmed right down. It was then that I'd remembered something my grandma had told me.

_"Ichigo?" she's asked me._

_ "Hm?"_

_ "You know you have a gift." _

_ I gave her a perplexed look. "What gift?"_

_ She smiled down at me from her rocking chair. "You have a gift. You have a special connection with Pokémon. You can reach their hearts. If you use this gift right, I'm sure any Pokémon can become your friend."_

_ I didn't quite understand. "Okay?"_

Now, it seemed to make sense as I stared out at my new friend, Leafeon. I grabbed a pokeball from my bag and walked over to Leafeon. My pokedex beeped, recognizing the Pokémon and telling me information on it and verifying that this Pokémon was girl. It also told me about Shinx and that it was a boy.

I got a second pokeball out, turning to Shinx first. "Hey, little guy. Want to travel with me?"

"Shinx!" it cheered, looking happily at me.

I smiled back. "I assume that's a yes. Great! I'll call you Static!"

The little Shinx smiled, approving of the nickname. I then tapped its forehead with my pokeball, a red beam sucking it in. With three rolls, Static had become a part of the team. I then faced Leafeon.

"Hey, girl. Do you want to travel with me too? I can take you to a Nurse Joy to heal those wounds."

Leafeon looked up at me, its eyes seeming misty. I assumed that it was apologizing for growling at me earlier.

"It's okay! Really. Please, I'd love to have you join us.

Leafeon then nodded, making a sound similar to a purr as she rubbed against my arm.

"I'll call you Evergreen! How's that?"

The Pokémon agreed. Then, Evergreen hit her forehead into the pokeball, sucking herself in. The ball rolled three times then let out a satisfying click. Leafeon was now mine.

I smiled, picking up the two pokeballs and putting them in my bag. I then ran off to find Akako, needing to hurry and get Leafeon to the Pokémon center. Looks like I'd completed my team. I wondered what other adventures would wait ahead.


	55. Healing Up and Heading Out!

Chapter 55

I ran over to the left side of the route, looking for Akako. "Hey! Akako!"

Hearing my calls, my boyfriend immediately ran over to meet me. "What is it?"

"We need to go to the Pokémon center," I informed him. "I just caught a Leafeon, but she's hurt. I'm pretty sure Team Millennium cut her up."

I tossed up the pokeball, revealing the battered Pokémon. Evergreen stared at Akako fiercely, gorling at him.

"Easy, girl," I told her. "This is Akako. He's my boyfriend. I promise he won't hurt you."

Evergreen nodded, but still watched him, waiting for him to try something. I picked her up, beginning to walk back with Akako. To try and make small talk, I asked,"Did you catch anything?"

He nodded. "Yeah! Check this out!"

Akako took a step back then tossed up his pokeball, revealing a hefty Pokémon. With volcano like structures on its back and a determined look on its face, I thought it to be a perfect Pokémon for Akako. A Camerupt.

"Cool," I said, marvelling at it. "But let's hurry back to town."

"Right," Akako agreed, calling back his Camerupt.

We then picked up the pace, hoping that Kokoa and Takuya would already be waiting for us. Indeed they were. As we ran up to them, I noticed they each had a new Pokémon at their side.

Kokoa was petting a cute Prinplup and Takuya had a fierce and loyal Arcanine by his side.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Kokoa.

I showed her the injured Leafeon. "We need to head to a Pokémon center."

Looking at the cuts in Evergreen's legs, Kokoa frowned. "Millennium?"

I nodded and we started heading for the Pokémon center. We all filed in through the automatic doors and hurried over to Nurse Joy and her Chansey.

"How can I help you?" asked Nurse Joy.

I showed her Evergreen. "I found this Pokémon hurt. Can you help it?"

Nurse Joy nodded, taking Evergreen. "Of course. If you'll just sit in the waiting room, we'll bandage her up."

"Thank you," I called as they walked away.

My friends then walked with me to the waiting room, each of us taking a seat in silence. Kokoa and Takuya silently whispered battle plans for the next gym with their Arcanine and Ninetales. Akako knew he'd be using his Camerupt. I wasn't thinking about battling though. I was just worried about my Pokémon.

At long last, Chansey peeked into the waiting room, gesturing for us to follow her. The four of us got up, following Chansey over to a room where I found Evergreen asleep, legs bandaged.

"She's not in any pain," Nurse Joy assured us. "In fact, she seems very lively. She might be a bit hostile towards people though. She seems okay though with you Miss...?"

"Ichigo," I told her.

"Miss Ichigo," she corrected herself. "Well, try to see if you can open the Pokémon up again."

I looked over to Akako and smiled. "If I can open up Akako, I can definitely help this Pokémon."

Nurse Joy didn't understand what I meant, but let me take Evergreen. I called her back to her pokeball, letting her get some well-earned rest. I should let Evergreen heal before trying to use her in a contest or anything.

Beforing leaving, Nurse Joy told us a fast way to get down the next route and we thanked her before heading on our way. Kokoa notified us that if we hurried, we could make it to the next town by sunset.

As we started walking down the route, avoiding the grass now that we were happy with our new Pokémon, I started up a conversation, thinking about the next gym.

"I'm surprised none of you have lost a battle yet," I remarked.

"You're going to jinx us," warned Akako.

"Really though," I said. "It's amazing that you haven't lost yet."

"I have," Takuya stated plainly.

"When?" asked Kokoa.

"To be honest," he began. "I lost my second gym battle. It wasn't something I'd wanted to tell you guys though."

"I can't believe the great Takuya lost!" teased Kokoa. Takuya just rolled his eyes.

"It's okay to lose now and then," I stated. "We can't always be winners. Who knows, maybe one of you will lose at the next gym."

"Okay, I'm definitely jinxed now," sighed Akako.

"You believe in jinxes?" I asked.

"Anything is possibly," he stated, shrugging.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking. "Anyway, enough about gym battles. I'm excited for the Tiroo contest."

"Me too!" agreed Kokoa. "Unfortunately for you, Ichigo, you'll be losing to me."

"We'll see about that," I hissed back, getting competitive.

"You have been winning a bit, Ichigo," mentioned Akako. "It wouldn't surprise me if you did lose."

"Now you're jinxing me!" I called at him.

He laughed. "Then I guess we'll both be losers together!"

I narrowed my eyes at him, but my anger melted away as he looked at me with those green eyes of his. Why could I never stay mad at him?!

Suddenly, our Xtransceivers beeped. I pressed a button, taking the call. My friends did the same. Prof. Pine's face appeared on screen.

"Hello everyone!" she called out.

"Hi," we all responded.

"Would you, by any chance, happen to be going to Tiroo city?"

"Yeah. We're on our way now," stated Kokoa.

"Great!" cheered Pine. "Could you all do me a favor?"

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"There are seven very...special people waiting in Tiroo. After your gyms and contests or whatever, could you meet up with them? They're here to help with defeating Millennium."

"Sure!" answered Akako. "We'll do whatever it takes to take out Millennium."

"Great!" smiled Pine, clapping her hands together. "They'll tell you our battle plan and they'll need your help. According to my sources, Millennium is out across the regions and they're close to achieving their goal. Those seven people will tell you out plan of action and we've set a date to take out Millennium."

"When is that?" asked Takuya, taking interest.

"According to a rough estimate I came up with, Millennium should have all the legendaries collected by some time after the Grand Festival, but before the Petilla League. We need to take them out then or it'll all be over."

"Got it," said Kokoa, taking out a piece of paper and writing down what Pine had said. "Is that all the info we need to know?"

"Everything you need to know will be answered when you get to Tiroo," notified Pine.  
I've got to go, kids. Stay safe, alright?"

"We've got it," assured Akako.

"Okay. Bye!" said Pine, waving.

"Good-bye!" we all called back, waving.

As the Xtransceivers screen went black again, we started on our way to Tiroo city again, heads spinning with new information. Everyone was silent as we wondered what might lie ahead. And who were the seven people Prof. Pine had been talking about? I guess all would have to be answered once we arrived in Tiroo City. For now, all we could do is walk.


	56. Contest Preparations!

Chapter 56

We'd arrived in Tiroo at sunset as planned, renting another hotel room with the money we earned from fighting trainers down the route. Now, I'd just woke up and Kokoa, Takuya, and Akako were heading to the gym. I would be staying behind though.

"Are you sure you don't want to watch?" Akako asked me.

"I would, but I have some contest moves I want to work I," I told him.

He nodded in understanding. "Alright. I'll tell you how it goes."

"Bye guys!" I called as Takuya and Kokoa left. Akako stayed behind though.

"I'm not leaving without-" my heart started pounding. "-A kiss."

I felt the blush heating up my cheeks as usual and I felt the jittery feeling I always got when he came closer to me. I realize I should be calmer around him by now, but I still felt so nervous. It almost felt like a dream.

He pushed some hair out of my face, then leaned in close to me. I leaned in as well, my heart skipping a beat like it always did. His lips only met mine for a few seconds, just a quick good-bye kiss, but to me, it felt like it had been hours. It was like time froze, focusing only on us whenever he kissed me. That may sound weird, but that's how I felt.

We then parted and he waved good-bye. "See you later, Ichi!"

"Bye!" I called, waving back. Once he was out of the room, I laughed, getting out my nerves. "When did he start calling me Ichi?"

I smiled and grabbed my bag, grabbing my pokeballs from one of the pockets and attaching them to my belt. I grabbed a few frisbees in case I needed them to have some aim practice and I also grabbed my poffin case, ready to reward my Pokémon if they did well.

I then ran out of the hotel, heading over to the park to practice. I was all alone at the park, so I'd be able to practice in peace. I smiled and tossed up my pokeball, revealing Evergreen. I removed her bandages, looking at the cuts on her legs, which seemed to be fading.

"Good," I said, smiling. "Looks like you're getting better."

"Leaf!" she called back, nudging up to me.

"Is that a thank you for helping you out?' I asked, patting her heading."

"Leaf! Feon!" she returned to me.

"I'll take that as a yes then," I said, now rubbing her chest. "Alright. Stand back."

Evergreen backed up as I grabbed my five other pokeballs. I tossed them all up in the air at once, revealing my party of Pokémon. Static ran over to meet me and Evergreen immediately, pouncing on the Leafeon.

I smiled, looking to my other Pokémon. "Alright, team. We've got two new members. Remember my Pokémon egg? It hatched! Say hello to Static the Shinx!"

Static turned around immediately, recognizing his name. "Shinx!" it called happily as the other Pokémon greeted it.

"And down the route, I met another friend. Say hello to Evergreen the Leafeon!"

Leafeon looked a bit shy and hid behind my legs. It made a face at the other Pokémon, looking a bit untrusting.

"Leafeon, these other Pokémon are my friends. I promise they won't hurt you."

Evergreen made a sighing sound and nodded, coming to meet the other Pokémon. Cuddles the Marill smiled sweetly as she came to meet Evergreen. Speaking of Marill, that was yet another one of my Pokémon that should evolve soon.

Then over came Amber, kneeling down to meet Evergreen and extending a claw in friendship. Evergreen looked a bit scared at first, but licked Amber's claw. I assumed that meant she wanted to be friends.

Ao then walked over, her statuesque form surprising Leafeon. She stared up at her as if she were a model. Ao smiled and extended her own hand. Evergeen licked hers in friendship as well.

Finally, Chestnut trotted over, oinking at Evergreen. I laughed as Evergreen put its paws on Chestnut's head and rolled him around like a ball. Chestnut oinked, sounding like it was laughing. Evergreen seemed to like Static, Cuddles, and Chestnut. And I think I'd figured out why. It seems to me that Evergreen was a fan of taking care of littler Pokémon. It was too bad that they'd most likely evolve soon.

"Hey guys!" I called out to my Pokémon. "Before I choose who competes in the contest, how about a little competition? I want you all to have some battles. It can show me your strengths and boost your experience to help some of you evolve. How does that sound?"

The Pokémon all squealed in approval except for Shinx. I sighed and picked the little one up. "It's okay. You're just a baby. You don't have to fight. You'll gain experience from the exp. share, okay?"

Static nodded in understanding. Then, Evergreen strayed from the others too, coming to meet me.

"Do you not want to battle?" I asked her.

She called up to Shinx, then I knew what she meant. "Do you want to sit and watch with Static?"

Evergreen nodded, sitting down. I dropped Static down next to her and the two snuggled in together, Static batting at Evergreen's tail. I smiled and turned to my other Pokémon.

"Alright! Amber vs. Ao and Chesnut vs. Marill. Those will be the match-ups! Go!"

Amber and Ao both fought well. Ao was able to dodge and block with great grace. Amber had lots of speed and power built into her. I could see why those two were such great contest match-ups. In the end though, Amber won the fight. Ao wasn't upset though. In fact, she shook hands with Amber after the match. I smiled in admiration.

Next up was Chestnut and Cuddles. Chesntut yawned, looking sleepy. I sweatdropped. It didn't look like Chestnut really wanted to fight. Cuddles looked determined though, eyeing Chestnut. Finally, she cried out and tackled into Chestnut. Chestnut growled as she water gunned him. Finally, soaked and angry, Chestnut decided to fight back, using ice shard. Marill dodged, smirking at Chestnut. Chestnut huffed in anger. Marill water gunned him once more until Chestnut fainted.

Cuddles crosses her arms, smiling in defeat. Just then, right on cue, a white light surrounded her, her body expanding and growing taller. As the light faded, I looked at her new form. I had an Azumarill.

"They evolve so fast!" I cried and laughed at the same time.

Cuddles smiled, looking at herself in a puddle of water from her water gun attack. She looked very proud of herself.

"I've made up my mind!" I called out. "Static, you've grown a few levels, right?"

Static nodded, having gone from level five to level six.

"I know you really can't battle yet, but I'd be happy if you and Evergreen worked together in the appeals round."

Evergreen and Static turned to face each other, looking surprised. I heard them whisper to each other in their own little Pokémon languages. Finally, they faced me, smiling. They wanted to compete.

I gave them a thumbs-up. "Azumarill and Ao. Will you work with me in the battle round?"

The two of them nodded in approval, happily cheering. I smiled back at them. Looks like I had this contest planned out.

"Sorry Amber and Chestnut. Maybe I'll use you next contest."

Chestnut yawned tiredly. He didn't seem into it anyway. Amber just nodded, okay with not always performing. I smiled a bit. It's funny how much Amber had grown. It felt like just yesterday that she was a hyper, adorable, little Torchic.

I then called all my Pokémon back to their pokeballs as I heard my stomach growled. I needed to get some lunch. As I was walking towards the restaurant, I just so happened to run into my trainer friends.

Kokoa and Takuya looked victorious, but Akako was frowning. "What's wrong?"

He turned to face me, sighing. "I lost. That gym leader defeated my Camerupt all too quickly then picked off the rest. She said I could have a rematch tomorrow."

"Aka-baka lost to a girl," Teased Kokoa.

"Shut it!" he called back at her.

I suddenly thought of something. "Tomorrow?! But my contest!"

"Sorry, Ichigo," Akako sighed. "I might not be there for a while. I promise to be their by the finals though. The battle won't take _too_ long."

"Alright," I sighed, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. "But you better make it there!"

"I promise," he told me, putting his hand over my heart.

"Good," I sighed. "Now how about we all head over to a restaurant? I'm starving!"

**Sorry that nothing interesting really happens in this chapter. I don't want to rush things too much though. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. I might update later today though, so be ready. I'd just like to say thank you for everyone's support and criticism. All of it helps me out so much. So thank you.**

** -IchigoHatake**


	57. Tiroo Contest Excitement!

Chapter 57

It was finally time for the Tiroo Contest. My Pokémon were ready and I felt confident, but I had one complaint. My boyfriend wouldn't be watching my contest until the final round and there's no absolute guarantee I'll make it that far.

I sighed and shrugged it off. He'd cheered for me at plenty of other contests. Why should this one make such a huge difference? I just needed to stay confident and plan things out and I'd win. Even if Akako wasn't here to cheer me on.

All this complaining I'd been doing had taken up time and before I'd realized it, it was Kokoa's turn to perform. I turned to face the tv, curious as to what contest moves she'd display today.

For the appeals round, she called out Asmodeus the Servine and her new Prinplup which she'd nicknamed Arctic. The two Pokémon landed together, leaning on one another, arms crossed and looking cooly at at the crowd. The audience cheered in approval. Then the performance began.

It started out with a beautiful whirlpool attack by Arctic followed by a leaf storm from Asmodeus. The two attacks combined formed a gorgeous shining, green whirlpool. It was amazing. Then, to finish it off, Arctic used bubble beam with was bursted apart with beauty by Asmodeus's vine whip. As usual, the team took a bow to end their performance.

Kokoa then returned, sitting backstage with me.

"That was awesome!" I praised her.

"Thanks," she returned. "I'm curious to see what your performance will be."

With perfect timing, a man called, "Ichigo, you're up!"

I smiled at her. "Well, your about to see."

I ran off, pokeballs in hand, down the hall, then exited onto the stage. Once my eyes adjusted to the stage lights, I smiled out at the crowd. Then, I spun around, tossing my pokeballs in the air. "Evergreen and Static! It's your time to shine!"

Out came Evergreen and Static, landing cutely together, Shinx riding on her back. The audience clapped. It was time to begin!

"Evergreen, spring up and use leaf blade!"

Leafeon hopped up into the air, twirling beautiful as her tail glowed green, using leaf blade. It was Static's turn.

"Now, use discharge!"

Static directed its discharge at Evergreen, the electric current combining with leaf blade to form one solid attack. Leafeon's tail glowed green, yellow electricity flowing through it.

"Now!" I called.

Evergreen smashed her tail into the stage, the move erupting. It looked like a mix of an explosion and fireworks. The crowd was mesmerized by the performance.

"Time for the finish!" I yelled out. "Magical leaf and thunder!"

A beautiful whirlwind of leaves and electricity danced acrossed the stage, causing an uproar. The audience was completely in love with my combinations. As the attack faded I turned to face my Pokémon and we all bowed and curtsied together. Then, we ran off the stage together.

"Nice!" Kokoa called to me as the three of us came back in.

"You think?" I asked, feeling proud of my Pokémon.

"Yeah," Kokoa admitted. "This contest is mine though."

I gave her a competitive look as I called back my Pokémon. "We'll have to see about that."

As soon as our conversation ended, the results of the appeals round appeared on screen. I wasn't surprised at all to see that both myself and Kokoa would be moving on to the next round.

"May the best coordinator win," I said, extending my hand.

"Of course," remarked Kokoa, taking my hand and shaking it.

This contest wasn't anything out of the ordinary except for one thing. After getting past the top eight and into the top four, instead of being paired against other people for the semi-finals, Kokoa and I were paired against each other. Only one of us could advance to the finals.

I took a deep breath as I walked down the hall, making my way to the battle field where I'd be facing Kokoa. I felt both nervous and excited. It was always refreshing to battle Kokoa. We were so evenly matched in contests that you never knew who'd win. That was the case today as well.

I felt a familiar rush as I walked out on stage, facing Kokoa. She stared at me with determination. I knew how badly she wanted to win. But I wanted to win this too. No matter what happened, only one of us would be earning our fifth ribbon today.

"Begin!" I heard the MC shout, beginning the five minute countdown.

Immediately, both of us tossed out our Pokémon of choice. I was battling alongside Ao and Cuddles, while Kokoa would be taking us on with Zoro and Pilot. This would be fun. I knew that much.

"Cuddles, use bubble beam and Ao, psychic!"

Ao controlled the bubblebeam, navigating it towards Kokoa's Pokémon, Thought they tred to dodge, Ao kept controlling the bubble beam until it finally hit. I looked up at the scoreboard. The dodging had taken some points from me, but I'd made up for it when it hit. We were about even now.

"Zoro, shadow ball! Pilot, water pulse!"

The two circular attacks came flying at my Pokémon, each hitting before we could act. Cuddles took the shadow ball in order to save Ao, so Gardevoir only took the force of water pulse. With team work, they could win.

"Nice, but I won't let you win, Ichigo!" Kokoa called over to me.

"Hmph!" I huffed. "Gardevoir, use hypnosis! Cuddles, sing!"

Gardevoir shot Zoroark with hypnosis and Cuddles used sing on Pilot. Both Pokémon fell asleep immediately.

"Now Gardevoir, dream eater! Cuddles, use your perish song!"

As Gardevoir took out a chunk of their hps with dream eater, Cuddles sang her perish song. If Kokoa didn't act fast, her Pokémon would be knocked out in three turns. The perish count is 3.

Kokoa acted fast, throwing berries to her Pokémon to wake them up. "Pilot, attack Gardevoir! Hold her down! Then Zoroark, use dark pulse!"

I knew what Kokoa was planning. She was going to take out Gardevoir then rid of Azumarill before perish song could take effect.

"Azumarill, stop them! Use giga impact!"

Azumarill charged at Pilot with her giga impact, but it only managed to graze the Pokémon. Before Ao could react, Pilot plowed into her, trying to hold her down.

"Let it rip!" Kokoa commanded Zoroark.

Zoro acted immediately, releasing a mass of dark energy onto Gardevoir. I'm sure you know this, but it was super effective. Unfortunately for me, Ao fainted. I only had Cuddles to help me now. The perish count was now two.

"I'm not going to let you get a move in!" Kokoa hissed. "Zoro, use shadow claw and Pilot, use water gun."

The two attack together, each aiming at Cuddles.

"Dodge!" I called, but Cuddles wasn't fast enough.

The water gun hit her, knocking her over. It wasn't effective, but she was unable to get up. Then, Zoroark ran over, striking her as hard as possible with its shadow claw. Nervous sweat dripped down my face. Cuddles was low on hp now. The perish count was one. Maybe I could make it!

"Cuddles, surf now!" I commanded.

Cuddles unleashed a giant mass of water. The Pokémon were unable to dodge it, but they attack the waves with their attacks, weakening the effect. They then charged over at Cuddles, Pilot using ice beam and Zoro using his shadow ball. The combined attacks hit Azumarill with a powerful force.

"Cuddles!" I called, losing sight of her as the attacks struck. As the smoke cleared, I saw Cuddles fainted. The perish song hadn't been quick enough and Cuddles hadn't been strong enough. We'd lost.

What disappointed me the most was that Akako had made his way to the stands just when I'd lost.

I sighed. "Good luck in the finals, Kokoa."

"Good match!" she called to me as I returned my Pokémon.

"Thanks for everything," I told her, walking off the stage.

I know I'd lost, but I felt happy for some reason. I don't know why, but I felt stronger. It was okay to lose every now and then. It's not like it made me weaker. In fact, maybe it's because I lost that I felt stronger. Why? I'd learned something today. And maybe I'd use my experience in my next contest.

There was also another reason I felt like a winner. Knowing Akako, he'd want to comfort me after my loss, so I could expect a hug or kiss from him. I blushed at the thought and started walking faster towards the stands.


	58. The Seven!

Chapter 58

As I made my way through the stands and over to Akako and Takuya, Akako met me with a sympathetic expression. Hid sad face made _him_ look like the one who's lost. I smiled lightly and sat down next to him.

"Hi...," I greeted awkwardly.

"So you lost?" He asked.

My sarcasm took over. "No. I'm just sitting here and having a break before I compete."

"That sarcasm isn't attractive at all," Akako teased me.

"Can it, Aka-baka!" I hissed, stealing Kokoa's nickname for him.

"Don't you start with that!" Akako growled.

"You should be nicer to your girlfriend, Aka-baka!" Takuya chuckled, joining in the fun.

Akako glared at the both of us, pissed off. I leaned on his shoulder, giving him a cute, sad-Pokemon look I'd been working on.

"Don't be mad," I whimpered, still giving him the look.

He sighed, wrapping his arm around me. "Sadly, it's impossible to stay mad at you."

"Sadly?" I questioned, giggling.

We both smiled and glanced out at the stage where Kokoa and some coordinator named Thomas were in the midst of battle. Kokoa was already way ahead, smoking the competition. The battle had been decided before the timer even ran out. Kokoa had won the Tiroo Contest.

The three of us clapped for her as Kokoa walked over and received her fifth and final ribbon. She gave a quick, cheerful smile to the crowd before returning her Pokemon and walking off stage.

Takuya, Akako, and I headed out into the main floor of the contest hall, waiting for Kokoa. As we waited for her, Akako took the liberty of showing off his newly obtained Metallic badge. It was cute to see him get so excited over it. Then, at last, Kokoa came to meet us.

Kokoa smiled more happily than I've ever seen her as she placed her fifth ribbon snuggly into her case.

"I'm going to the Grand Festival!" she cheered, doing a short victory dance.

"I'll be up next," I said, already wondering when my next contest would be.

Just as Takuya was about to unfold the town map, Kokoa took it out of his hands, folding it back up.

"Hold up!" she told us. "We can't leave yet. We still have to meet up with those people Pine mentioned."

Then, Akako brought something up. "She never told us where in town we needed to meet them."

The four of us sweatdropped. I sighed, wondering how such a brilliant Pokémon Professor could have been so absent-minded, not bothering to give directions.

"No problem!" yipped Kokoa. "Tiroo isn't too big and a group of seven people shouldn't be too hard to miss!"

"Right," I agreed. "How about we all split up and search for them around the city? And once one of us finds them, we'll contact the others on the Xtransceiver."

"Alright," they all agreed.

Kokoa took the lead again. "Okay. I'll search the east side of town. Takuya, you take the west side. Ichigo, I want you to look north, which leaves Aka-baka searching the south."

We all agreed, then split up our separate ways, beginnng our search. The frst place I checked was inside some nearby houses, but nobody was sure who I could be talking about.

I sighed in defeat then searched up at some of the cafes up north. There were many families and such, but not in groups of seven. I then took my search elsewhere.

I found myself at an abandoned Pokémon shelter and took a quick look before I started feeling sorry for the Pokémon. I did want to help them, but there was no room left in my party and I didn't feel like abandoning my Pokémon in some pc.

The only place left to look was the park that led out of town. I looked around, only seeing trainer's and Pokémon, but then, I thought I spotted someone familiar. I gasped, recognizing some people.

Standing and waiting in a big group together, chatting away freely was a group of three Pokémon. I was positive these were the people Prof. Pine was talking about? Why? These seven people were very important, well-known people from across the regions that I'm sure Pine gathered. The champions.

I recognized each of them from all the books I'd read. The most familiar of them was Marci, champion of Petilla, still wearing her magician outfit. Next was the champion of Kalos, Diantha, wearing a fashionable outfit. From Unova came Alder, who was flirting with Sinnoh's champion, the gorgeous Cynthia. Then there was Wallace, one of my favorites for not only being a champion, but a top coordinator as well. From Johto, there was Lance, the caped champion with spiky hair. Finally, a popular champion around some of my fangirl neighbors, Red, the mysterious Kanto Champion.

One of them turned to face me, Wallace. "Oh, hello! Would you happen to be Miss Ichigo Hatake?"

"That's be her!" Marci confirmed before I could speak.

"Where are the others that Pine mentioned?" Cynthia asked me.

"I need to call them!" I informed the champions, turning away quickly to make a call.

As soon as the three of them answered, I shouted, "Meet me in the park! The champions are here to see us!"

The three of them looked both surprsed and excited. The screen went black as the three of them switched off the Xtransceivers, hurrying over to meet me. I immediately turned back to face the champions.

"So you're the coordinator girl Pine talks about," marvelled Wallace. "I myself love contests!"

"She seems strong!" boomed Alder. "Seems strong for a coordinator."

"She fits my taste," Diantha nodded.

Lance glared at me a bit. "I don't see why everyone has such hopes for her. She's one girl. She can't do anything alone."

'I can hear you!' I hissed at Lance mentally.

"Leave her alone, Lance," said Red. "She isn't alone anyway. She has good friends and her Pokémon too. She also seems kind of cute."

I blushed at Red's small flirt, then stuttered,"I-I have a boyfriend!"

Red laughed at my red face. "Just kidding."

'Funny,' I thought to myself. 'I never imagined Red to be so care-free.'

"Here come the others!" exclaimed Marci, pointing at my three friends as they came rushing over.

"No way!" screamed Kokoa. "You weren't lying! They're all champions!"

Takuya stayed silent, but looked impressed.

"We get to fight Millennium alongside the champions?!" shouted Akako. "Awesome!"

"Enough chat," said Diantha, looking serious now.

Cynthia nodded, looking to us. "We have to discuss a plan to stop them. Pine told us everything."

"Even about the team leaders?" Kokoa asked.

"Yes," said Alder, nodding.

"I never thought all of them would gather in one place," hissed Red.

"We won't let them kill the legendaries!" growled Lance.

"Of course not!" I agreed.

"So what's our strategy?" asked Kokoa, serious now.

"Huddle up," said Marci. "And don't miss a single detail of what we're about to say."


	59. Strategy Session End, Journey Continue!

Chapter 59

Once we were all huddled together, we started discussing strategies. I'll spare you the details (you'll have to wait and see the plan). As we finished the conversation though, Red handed the four of us a very special pokeball, one for each of us. In my palm, there sat a master ball.

"No way!" Akako exclaimed.

"A master ball," gasped Kokoa, turning it around.

"The only pokeball to catch any Pokémon without fail," I added.

"Amazing," Takuya chimed in, choosing to speak.

"In case there's a legendary you want," explained Red. "You can have it with one of those."

"Thank you so much!" I told him.

The others thanked him as well, then Cynthia cleared her throat, drawing attention over to her.

"Remember," Cynthia began. "Team Millennium is growing more and more dangerous. Not only have they created a machine to easily knock out legendaries, but their grunts are getting more powerful by the day."

"Have you seen there new robot features?" asked Marci.

"Yeah," nodded Kokoa. "They look like a bunch of cyborg freaks."

"Just beware," warned Diantha. "There's no telling what might happen if we fail to take them out."

"Actually, it's east to tell what might happen," grumbled Lance. "They'll kill us along with the legendaries."

I glared at Lance. 'What's his problem?' I thought to myself. 'He's so negative!'

"Let's hope it won't come to that," sighed Alder. "I lost my own partner to natural causes, but to have Pokémon killed because of a group like them...I don't want to see that happen."

"Are you sure they'll strike after the Grand Festival?" asked Akako. "I mean, what if they collect the legendaries sooner than that?"

"It'll be alright," Cynthia assured us. "I hired Detective Looker to play as a Millennium grunt so he could track their progress. He'll notify us if they're planning to strike sooner or even later."

"So far though, it appears they'll work to our schedule," Marci concluded.

"That's good," I said. "Although, I still wonder about all those organization leaders."

"Yes," agreed Red, looking curious. "It appears that your theory is right, but if they take out Akuma before we get there, who knows what they'll do with the legendaries. If they strike quick enough, it may be too late for us to stop them..."

"Let's think positive!" screamed Kokoa, looking frustrated. "If we don't believe we can do it, we _won't _be able to do it! Just think positive and we'll make it!"

"That's a good way of thinking," chuckled Alder.

All the champions looked a bit less nervous now after hearing Kokoa's quick pep talk. Even the negative Lance seemed a bit more upbeat.

Then, I remembered something. "Oh! I have another question. Since that Looker guy is spying on Millennium, has he managed to get close to Akuma at all?"

"Possibly," said Cynthia. "But why do you want to know?"

"Akuma and some of the other bosses seem to think there's something special about me," I told them. "Do you know what it might be?"

"You mean you haven't figured it out for yourself?" snorted Lance.

I shot a death glare at him. Out of all the champions, he was definitely my least favorite.

"I think I know what your talent may be," Wallace chimed in. "As a matter of fact, I think we've all noticed it."

I blinked my eyes, staring at them in confusion. "What is it?"

"I can sense a strong bond between you and Pokémon," Red told me, smiling. "And not just your Pokémon. I think you're just a naturally kind person to Pokémon and they'd like to be your friend. Maybe, if you managed to connect with the legendaries, it could lay a part in freeing them."

"Akuma might've wanted to recruit you to help speed of the legendary capturing process," Kokoa finished, piecing everything together. "That's probably why Leafeon opened up to you so quickly too. She just knew you were a good person."

"I have always been around Pokémon," I nodded. "I'd play with them in my yard and at the beach and everywhere they were. I was just waiting for the day I could catch them all on my journey."

"That's good," said Red. "I always try to be nice to my Pokémon too. You and I are kind of the same."

Akako shot Red a jealous look and I laughed, taking Jealous boy's hand. He smiled triumphantly and I rolled my eyes.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you," I whispered to him.

"I'm not jealous!" he hissed back, blushing.

I smiled, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Alright," sighed Kokoa. "Is this all you have to tell us?"

"That's it," nodded Diantha, grabbing her bag.

"I guess we should wrap this meeting up," Alder sighed.

"Good," growled Lance.

"Sayonara!" waved Wallace, heading out.

"Be careful!" called Cynthia.

"Bye gang!" said Red.

"We'll see you soon!" Marci shouted to us, bouncing off.

As we were left behind, we all took a few minutes of silence to let everything they'd said sink in. I sighed, feeling a bit overwhelmed. The Grand Festival was almost here and that stressed me out for two different reasons. One, because Team Millennium would need to be stopped of course. And two, I still needed to obtain my fifth ribbon.

Takuya unfolded his town map, reading my mind. "Where should we go now?"

"Somewhere with a gym," both Kokoa and Akako answered.

"The closing gym is in Dindio, but there aren't any contest halls there. What do you think, Ichigo?"

"We can head to Dindio," I agreed. "There's still a while before the Grand Festival. I can wait a bit longer."

"This gym is a poison gym," Takuya warned the others. "Buy a ton of heals because if your Pokémon are poisoned, it'll damage them each turn."

Kokoa nodded, already taking out her wallet. Akako nodded too, searching to see if any were in his bag. I looked through mine, giving a few full heals to Akako and a couple to Kokoa as well. They needed them more than I did.

"Looks like I should be good," confirmed Kokoa, repacking her bag. "Alright, should we start walking then?"

"Yup!" I called back, seeing that my bag was in place.

"We're ready," Akako agreed as well.

Kokoa walked over to Takuya, for once, taking his hand in front of us. "Alright. Let's get moving. If we really hurry, we'll get there before nightfall."

"I can use Amber's flames and Static's electricity to light the way if we do end up hiking in the dark."

Kokoa nodded. "There's Ginger, Camerut, and Arcanine too. We'll be just fine."

Once that was started, we began walking, heading straight towards Dindio Town. I smiled, excited for another journey to a new town. Who knows, maybe we'd run into some friends. Whatever the case, I was happy to still be walking along with my friends. After the Grand Festival and the battle with Millennium, I wasn't quite sure what I'd do next. I'd probably end up watching the Petilla League, but I wasn't sure where I'd go after that.

I shrugged it off, trying not to burden myself. Why wrry about the future? I should just be happy and live in the present. As Akako held my hand, I blushed. I was definitely happy right now. I just hoped that wherever I went, Akako would follow me.


	60. Memories and a Confession!

Chapter 60

"Wow!" I exclaimed as we arrived in Dindio. It was beautiful here. All the houses were decorative with bright colors and balconies. The streets were nice as well, pictures of Pokémon carved into them by a professional artist. A poison gym didn't seem to fit with the rest of the city, but whatever.

"Look!" called Kokoa, pointing out into the distance.

My eyes immediately shot over to where she was pointing. I smiled, recognizing a few friends. Kohaku, Miku, Rin, and Angel were all gathered together, sitting out on the cafe's patio.

"Let's go!" I called, already rushing over to meet them.

"Wait up!" shouted Akako as he chased after me.

Everyone smiled as they saw us coming their way.

"Ichigo!" Miku yelled, happy to see me.

"It's good to see you all!" greeted Kohaku once everyone had made their way over.

"Nice to see you too!" I said back.

"Have you guys already won the badge?" asked Akako of Miku and Kohaku.

"Yup!" the both responded, showing their badges.

"And how are you two doing with contests?" Kokoa questioned Angel and Rin.

"Well, I started travelling with Rin after a contest," began Angel.

"And now we both have five ribbons," Rin finished, proving it by showing us her ribbon case.

"Me too!" squealed Kokoa, showing off her ribbons.

"How about you, Ichigo?" Rin asked me.

I sighed and showed them my four ribbons. "I need just one more..."

Rin nodded. I was shocked. I'd expected her to shoot back some rude comment or brag that she had more ribbons than me. What was up with her?

"You seem...different," I told Rin, looking at her suspiciously.

She smiled. "Oh, you mean that I'm not being rude anymore?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

"Well," she sighed. "After competing with you and travelling with Angel for a while, I realized that I was being pretty mean and snobby. I wanted to change, so I did!"

"That's great," I praised her, still a bit surprised though.

"I also gained a lot of courage," Angel mentioned, her words smooth instead of stuttered and broken apart like before.

"Wow!" laughed Kokoa. "Looks like everyone is changing!"

"Yeah," sighed Miku, looking distant. "Everyone has come so far since the start of our journeys."

I nodded in agreement. "It feels like just yesterday we were all in the lab together."

Miku giggled, looking over at Kohaku. "You know, Kohaku used to have a crush on you, Ichigo."

"Really?!" I screamed, surprised.

"Used to," Kohaku admitted. "I like someone else now though."

Miku smiled, thinking back to that first day in the lab. "I think I'm the only one who hasn't changed much."

I nodded. "Me too I think."

"No," Akako said, disagreeing with me. "I think you've changed a lot. You seem stronger and kinder. I think you've become a great person."

I blushed, embarrasses by his comments. "You've changed too, Akako. You used to be such a lone wolf. You'd barely speak. Now I have you wrapped around my finger."

Akako frowned. "That's a weird way to put it."

Kokoa interrupted our conversation. "Hey guys, Takuya and I are going to head to the gym. You guys can catch up if you want."

"Oh. I'm coming too!" Akako called to them. "See you later, Ichigo."

"Alright," I said, waving. "Bye! Do your best!"

"I always do!" he responded. "Bye!"

I waved until he disappeared, sprinting after Kokoa and Takuya. Then, I turned back to the others.

"Come and sit," offered Kohaku, pulling up an extra chair."

I walked u the steps and sat down, sitting in between Miku and Angel. I looked hungrily at the desserts they were having. Angel laughed, handing me a cupcake.

"Here," she offered it to me. "I'm full on sweets."

"Thanks!" I said, taking the cupcake and eating it.

Miku laughed as I got frosting all over my face. For some reason, I always got food all over myself when I was enjoying something. If there wasn't food on my face, I wasn't enjoying what I was having.

Rin handed me a napkin and I graciously took it, wiping the mess off of my face. I saw Kohaku laughing.

"What?" I asked, clearing the rest of my face.

"Some things just never change," he laughed.

"Well you've changed a lot," I said, examining him. "You seemed way nerdier when I first met you. Now you still have a lot of knowledge, but you seem...different. I think travelling with Miku has changed you a bit."

Miku smiled. "I did help him get more style. The plain white shirt and dress pants wasn't working."

I nodded, looking at Kohaku's outfit now. He was wearing a black t-shirt that displayed all the Unova starters. It suited him better for sure. He still wore pants, but they were jeans, which definitely helped his look. Also, instead of his plain-looking hair, Miku had messed it u a bit, making it look better.

"She's transformed me," chuckled Kohaku. "In more ways than one..."

"What do you mean?" asked Miku. "More ways than one?"

Kohaku blushed. "Well...there's something I've been dying to tell you. I just never expected to say it in front of so many people."

Angel put her hands over her mouth, knowing what he was going to say. Rin rested her chin on her hands, giving them an all-knowing look. I then realized what was about to happen and I gasped, feeling like I was standing in the middle of a romance movie.

"Miku, we've been travelling together for a long time now and we've grown pretty close," Kohaku started out, blushing like crazy. "We've become great friends, but...I don't want to be friends. Miku, I really like you! Will you be my girlfriend?!"

We all stared in silence, awaiting her response. Mikun and Kohaku seemed very different to me, but after spending so much time together, who knows what could happen between the two.

Miku smiled, a small blush forming on her face. "Of course I will."

Kohaku seemed genuinely shocked. It looked like he'd been bracing himself for rejection. He hadn't need to though. She felt the same!

"Awwww!" I cried.

Kohaku blushed as he saw us all staring. Miku just smiling, taking Kohaku's arm. Kohaku blushed, but smiled back at her.

"This is really happening," laughed Kohaku.

"Duh. It isn't a dream," giggled Miku. "I'm here and I'm here to stay!"

Miku then gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing Kohaku to blush more. I laughed, seeing a bit of myself in Kohaku. At least I wasn't the only one who melted around their boyfriend, or in Kohaku's case, girlfriend.

"You guys look cute together!" Angel commented.

I laughed a bit. Angel really wasn't shy anymore. Now she seemed really teasing. It was cool.

"I knew it!" called Rin. "I knew a confession was coming!"

Just then, Akako came walking over, taking my hand and smiling. He must've been the first to battle the gym and by the looks of it, he had won.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

I smiled. "A little romance..."

**I'll end the chapter here. Geez! 60 chapters. Wow! Gymshipping is now canon! To be honest, when I first came up with Miku and Kohaku, I'd NEVER planned on getting them together, but since I made them travel together and fight together and because HoAMR fell in love with gymshipping, I started falling in love with it too. And now, it's a reality, so yay! Anyway, that's all for today! Bye! Thanks for all your reviews!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	61. Race to Rerara!

Chapter 61

Soon after Akako met up with us again, Takuya and Kokoa followed behind, both having been victorious. Everyone congratulated them and now we were all seated around a table, catching up a bit more.

"So...you're dating now?" Kokoa asked Miku and Kohaku.

"Yup," they answered together.

"Darn. I missed it," sighed Kokoa.

Just then, I thought of something. "Hey, Kokoa? How did you and Takuya confess?"

"Well," she began, entering her storyteller mode. "After the incident in the so called city of love, I realized he wasn't all bad. He was a strong trainer and he was quiet, so he didn't annoy me nearly as much as other people like Aka-baka. You know that night at the hotel when you and Akako were getting romantic on the balcony?"

"You saw that?!" I screamed, blushing.

"Yeah. He tried not to completely reject you. It was weird," Kokoa nodded. "Anyway, once you had gone to sleep, Takuya and I ended up meeting together in the hallway. We both wanted a midnight snack. We just started talking, settled our differences, and it just happened."

Takuya nodded in agreement.

"Who confessed?" asked Rin with a giggle.

"That's our secret," said Kokoa, winking.

Miku smiled. "Looks like we've all had a lot of great adventures."

"They aren't all great," sighed Akako. "It's also been a painful and troublesome journey. Especially with Millennium."

"Millennium?" Kohaku said, looking like he was thinking. "Hey! Are you guys going to help stop them too after the Grand Festival?"

"We are," Angel said, referring to her and Rin.

"Yeah," I responded. "You're helping too?"

"Pine says she needs all the people she can get," sighed Miku.

"Well she chose the right people!" called Kokoa, looking confident.

"So," Rin started a new conversation. "Where are the four of you heading next?"

Takuya shrugged, looking down at his map. "I'm trying to find a city with a gym and a contest hall for Ichigo..."

"There's Rerara," Miku suggested. "There's a dragon type gym there and a contest hall too. You guys can get your final badge there and Ichigo can win her last ribbon."

"How far is it?" Kokoa asked Takuya, looking over his shoulder at the map.

"Close," he answered. "We should arrive in less than a day as usual."

"Awesome!" I cheered, excited for another contest. "I'll win for sure!"

"This badge is in the bag," said Akako confidently.

"Oh!" shouted Angel, remembering something. "I have something for you boys..."

Angel dug through her bag and pulled out two pokeballs, setting them down on the table. "Prof. Pine heard you two haven't completed your teams yet, so she wanted me to give these to you. You two can decide which one you'd like."

Angel then tossed up the pokeballs, revealing the Pokémon Prof. Pine wanted to offer them. Out of one pokeball came a Dewott and the other held an Eevee.

"Pine couldn't find good homes for them," explained Angel. "But she thought you'd be able to care for them."

"Dibs on Dewott," said Takuya quietly, coming over to pat his new friend.

"Alright then. Eevee for me!" smiled Akako, picking up the little fox. "Thanks, Angel." "Yeah, thank you," Takuya said.

"No problem," Angel replied. "I just delivered them. The real person you should thank is Prof. Pine."

"We'll be sure to do that," Akako assured her.

Angel nodded and put her bag back on the ground. Kokoa yawned.

"Hey guys, we should get going. I'd like to get to Rerara as fast as possible so we can go and rent a hotel room."

"Oh, Do you really have to go?" whined Miku.

"Yeah," sighed Akako, agreeing with Kokoa for once. "We really should get moving now..."

"See you all later then," Kohaku told us.

"Best wishes!" added Angel.

"You better make it to the Grand Festival," Rin told me.

"I will," I promise, grabbing my bag of stuff.

I rubbed behind Eevee's ears as we started walking away. The little cutie cried back at me, sounding happy. Akako laughed.

"Looks as if he likes you," he noted.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "So, are you going to evolve him into anything?"

"I do have lots of stones," Akako noticed, pondering. "I probably will. I want Eevee to level up a bit more though. Then I'll evolve him into what I want."

"Vee!" called Eevee, sounding happy enough.

Takuya had called back his Dewott already, but I knew he was happy to have it. It looked like we all had full teams now. This really was close to ending. I felt tears prick at my eyes.

"What's wrong?!" panicked Akako as a tear trickled down my cheek.

"Did Aka-baka say something stupid?!" questioned Kokoa, glaring at him.

"It's not that," I said, wiping away a tear. "It's just...our time together is almost over..."

Kokoa sighed, not having noticed. "You're right..."

"What's so sad about that?" asked Takuya, joining in the conversation.

"Well, who knows where we'll all end up after the Petilla League ends," I stated. "We'll all end up splitting up, won't we?"

"Why can't we all just travel to a new region together?" asked Takuya. "That seems like a simple solution to me."

"Yeah!" Kokoa agreed. "We don't have to split up just because one journey ended! There are more adventures to come, so we'll keep travelling together!"

Akako nodded. "But let's not worry too much about that right now. We still haven't earned our last badge or in your case, the last ribbon."

"Right," I said, cheering up. "So let's go and get them!"

"We won't be able to if we keep walking so slow!" said Kokoa, speeding up. "Come on guys! Last one to Rerara is a rotten Exeggcute!"

"When did this turn into a race?!" grumbled Akako, chasing after Kokoa, not wanting to lose.

"I'm not losing!" I called, sprinting after those two.

I looked behind me as Takuya shrugged. starting to run too. I accelerated as he passed me, not wanting to lose. Shooting past him, I caught up with Kokoa and Akako, getting a bit short of breath.

"Why'd I agree to this?" I puffed. "I...hate...running!"

"Already tired?" cackled Kokoa. "I thought you would be more hyper with all that sugar you ate."

"I...hate...this!" I cried, slowing down. "Someone...carry me..."

Akako picked me up, slinging me on his back. He gave me a piggyback ride, running as fast as he could even though I weighed him down. He still managed to keep pace with Kokoa.

"I'm going to beat you!" chuckled Akako, taking the lead although he still carried me.

"Oh no you don't!" hissed Kokoa, pumping her arms faster and moving forward.

I laughed, feeling the breeze in my hair as Akako rushed forward. It was almost like flying, only a bit more windy and rugged.

I smiled as Rerara came into view. "Look!"

Akako kept his eyes focused ahead, smiling at the town. He sped up even more, trying to arrive before Kokoa. Kokoa wouldn't give up though. She kept pushing herself harder and running faster. At last, we arrived, the three of us tying for first. Takuya came running in last.

"Takuya's the rotten Exeggcute!" the three of us hollered and cheered.

"That wasn't fair," he protested. "Ichigo got a free ride."

"I would've carried you if you would've asked," laughed Kokoa.

Takuya rolled his eyes as we started walking into Rerara. Rerara was a gorgeous town with vibrant colors across the houses. There were lots of people and Pokémon performing on the streets, each wearing different outfits. It was definitely a town for performers. I myself enjoyed performing.

"We should have fun here," I laughed, entering te crowds. And indeed, we would.


	62. Ichigo's Street Performance!

Chapter 62

"This is awesome!" I cheered, looking through all the different street performances.

"Yeah," Kokoa agreed, scanning the area.

"Woah!" I cried, watching a Gulpin swallow its trainer then spit it back out. I laughed.

"Oh!" said Akako, pointing. "Street vendors! Anyone hungry?"

"The more food I eat, the hungrier I get," I answered. "Since when do you _ever_ have to ask if I'm hungry? The answer is always yes!"

"Good point," chuckled Akako, pulling out his wallet. "What do you want?"

"You're paying?" I asked.

"No," he said sarcastically. "I was just taking out my wallet in case someone wanted to mug me."

"Your sarcasm isn't attractive," I said, stealing his lines from back at my last contest.

He rolled his eyes, smiling. "Now what is it you want?"

"Something with chocolate," I answered, looking through the food carts. "Oh! Pocky!"

One of the carts along the street was selling my favorite treat, pocky. I grabbed five chocolate boxes, waiting for Akako to pay. He chuckled and handed the man the money. I happy thanked him, putting the boxes in my bag except for one box, which I opened and began eating.

"I wonder how long this pocky will last," I pondered, a stick in my mouth, as we walked back over to Takuya and Kokoa. They both held cotton candy, eating happily. I laughed at the cotton candy's design. It was made to look like Swirlix.

"I feel like I'm eating a Pokémon," laughed Kokoa, being gentle with it in case she was actually biting into a Swirlix.

Takuya chuckled, mercilessly devouring the cotton. "It's good. Don't worry about anything. Just eat it."

"We're getting distracted," I mentioned, remembering what we were all here for.

"Right," nodded Akako. "Should we all head to the gym."

"You guys can go to the gym," I said, nodding. "I'm staying here though! I want to check out other performances and maybe train my Pokémon."

"Alright," agreed Akako. "Just be careful, okay? I'll come back for you soon!"

"Roger!" I called back, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Bye, Ichigo~!" called Kokoa, walking away happily with the rest of her cotton candy.

"Have fun," Takuya add in, waving good-bye.

"Do your best!" I called to them, hoping they'd all come back with badges.

Once they were off, I turned back to what I was doing as I scoured the streets for a good show. A huge stage caught my attention, tons of multi-color lights flashing. There was nobody on the stage though.

"What do you mean Marci can't come?!" a blad dude screamed in the phone. "Team Millennium?! Don't know them! How can they be more important than a show?!"

He paused, probably listening to whoever was on the other side. "Did she at least send a replacement?!"

Another long pause. "Wing it?! I can't wing it! Who's going to perform for me!"

"Sir," I interrupted. "Sorry to bother you, but if you need a performer, maybe my Pokémon and I can help you out."

He looked me up and down, then his eyes widened. "You're Ichigo Hatake! My daughter loves your performances! She taped them all whether you won or lost! She wants to be a coordinator like you some day!"

I blushed, just now noticing I had some fans. "I'm glad she likes me. I do my best!"

"So, Ms. Ichigo, you want to perform for me?" he asked, looking pleased.

"Sure," I agreed. "I'm sure I can come up with something for you!"

"That would be wonderful!" he cheered. "Could I ask another favor too?"

"Sure. What is it?"

He pulled out a notebook and pen, handing them to me. "Can you give me an autograph for my daughter? Her name is Marzia."

"Sure thing," I agreed, signing the paper quickly, adding a little note for Marzia. "Here you go, sir."

"Call me Carl," he said, taking back the supplies.

"Ok, Carl. Do I have to wear an outfit or anything?"

"That might be nice," he said, mentally criticizing my street clothes. "There are lots of dresses backstage. I'll get my girls to do your hair and make-up. And if you to well on stage, I'll make sure to give you good pay!"

"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed, excited for the job.

"No," Carl said. "Thank _you."_

He led me backstage where I was greeted by lots of women, all smiling at me.

"She's cute. I can work with her," I heard one girl whisper.

"Alright girls!" Carl yelled to all of them. "Make this girl beautiful! She'll be performing for us today! This here is Ichigo Hatake, a coordinator!"

"What skills do you have?" asked one of the girls. "I'll find an outfit to help."

"Well, I coordinate," I said awkwardly, thinking that'd be obvious. "Oh, I could sing too! I love singing!"

"Got it," the girl called back, looking through her collection of outfits. "Come here."

From there on out, I was dressed up like a doll. I got into a dress, then I went through the make-up department and ended with my hair. By the end of it, I almost didn't recognize myself. I looked too girly.

I wore a strapless purple dress that went down to my knees. The bottom was lacey and they put my in death trap high heel shoes to match it. They put eyeshadow and a bit of mascara on me. A bit of blush too. I looked different. Finally, my hair was constructed in some braid I was unfamiliar with. It looked nice though. I had transformed by the end of it.

"Gorgeous!" Carl complimented as he waltzed into the room. "Are you ready to perform? Five minutes until show time!"

"I should be good," I promised, nodding. "No guarantees I won't trip on the shoes though."

"I never understand women and high heels," agreed Carl. "Just be ready to go in five!"

"Got it!" I nodded.

I waited until it was finally time to go. The ladies urged me out as I stepped up the stairs. I stood behind a huge curtain, waiting for it to draw back. I heard Carl talking into the microphone, apologizing for Marci canceling the show, but then introducing me.

The curtains opened and I ran on stage, giving them my best smile. They cheered, many of them recognizing me from television or from the actual, live contests. I felt like a super star. It was a great feeling. Carl passed the microphone to me.

"Hello everyone!" I called. "My name is Ichigo Hatake and I'd like to show you a few contest moves!"

I then spun around, throwing all my pokeballs up into the air, all my Pokémon appearing at once. Each of them looked a bit nervous at first, especially Evergreen, but they calmed down, realizing we were about to do a performance.

"Pair up guys!" I commanded. "Amber and Ao, Cuddles and Chestnut, Static and Evergreen!"

Each of the Pokémon stood by their partners, awaiting my command. I smiled, happy with the groupings. I had Ao and Amber come up first, their cool and beautiful statuesque forms captivating the audience.

"Alright!" I called, feeling excited. "This was our first ever performance! Ember and psychic combo! Go!"

Amber immediately sprang up, spinning as she unleashed her embers. Ao immediately acted, arms extended as she used psychic, stopping the embers. She then controlled them, having them dance around the stage. The audience cheered in approval. Next up were Cuddles and Chestnut.

"Okay! Bubblebeam and ice shard combination!"

Cuddles twirled around gracefully, unleashing a perfect bubblebeam. Chestnut followed up immediately, unleashing its ice shard and breaking apart the bubbles in beautiful, blue bursts. The audience oohed. Finally, I had Static and Evergreen come up.

"These two are new, but they're great performers!" I told the audience, praising my Pokémon. "Alright, let's do an old combo! Discharge and Leaf blade! Now!"

Static unleashed a powerful, glowing, electric attack. Evergreen's tail glowed green and the electricity came into contact with it, absorbing into her tail. The color sparkled together as she slammed her tail onto the stage, the colors bursting brightly. We each took a bow, our act ending.

As I called them back to their pokeballs, I walked back over to the microphone, smiling brightly.

"I have one more act for you," I informed the audience. "I've had a lot of adventures and good times on my journey. I'd like to sing a song about it."

I smiled, seeing Kokoa point to me, leading the others over. Looks like they'd get to see my last performance. I took a deep breath, remembering the lyrics I'd written on a paper earlier. I searched deep in my heart, the song coming out now.

_"It was scary, trying to find my own path. But it was worth it. Through this, I met all of you. And as I lay awake at night, I wonder what we'll go through next. I hope everything will be for the best. Because I love you all. I'd fight alongside you any day. Because I love you all. I'm happy to say...You are the reasons, I've become who I am. The more time I spend with you, the more I understand. I learn so much. Get new experiences. And although it's scary...oh, so scary...I wouldn't trade this for the world!"_

I let the music I'd set up play, waiting for the next verse. Taking a look out in the crowd, I saw Kokoa, Takuya, and Akako each looking a bit scared and sad, looking at their badges. Good. They'd all won. I continued on with my song.

_"As the seasons change, our time together shortens. And as we keep walking, what will be our destiny? We promised to stay together, but will that promise be broken? I hope and pray that I'll stay with my dear friends. And I'm happy to say...Each of you gave me reasons to become who I am. The more you teach me, the more I come to understand. I love it so much. Wouldn't trade it for anything. And although it's scary...to have it end...although it scares me, I know this will end. But I believe...we'll find a new beginning. We'll find the key to open the gate. And we'll awake together in a new era. And then...we'll start over again."_

**Sorry to end here, but I'll take this as a stopping point. You can see their reactions next chapter. My apologies. Not much happened this chapter I realize, but more will come later on. Yay! They have all their badges! Now Ichigo just needs to win one more ribbon...Well, thanks for reading!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	63. Final Contest Begin!

Chapter 63

As I walked backstage, I quickly changed, receiving my money from Carl and quickly running through the crowd. Some people wanted autographs, which I signed quickly before heading over to my friends. They greeted me with smiles.

"Nice song," said Kokoa.

"Thanks," I replied, blushing a little.

Akako walked up to me, taking my hand. "Don't worry, Ichigo. We already told you, we aren't going anywhere. We'll keep travelling together, okay?"

"Yeah," I agreed, smiling at the three of them.

"You have a contest tomorrow, right?" asked Takuya.

"Yes," I answered.

"Win it," he told me, then went mute again.

I smiled, taking out my ribbon case and staring at the single empty spot. I'd definitely get my last ribbon.

"I wonder who else might be competing?" Kokoa wondered aloud. "Maybe Ichigo will have some competition."

"I hope not!" I shouted. "There are only _five_ contests left before the Grand Festival. They give us a month to prepare before it. I have to hurry and win!"

"That's the spirit!" shouted Kokoa. "Take out your competition!"

"We'll be rooting for you," Akako informed me.

"Of course," I laughed. "Who else would you cheer for?"

"What should we do now?" asked Kokoa boredly.

"Waste time until night I guess," I answered.

(Time Lapse: The Next Morning)

"Get up Ichigo!" I heard Kokoa scream into my ear.

I growled and hit her with one of my pillows. She ripped the pillow out of my hand and hit me back.

"Wake up! You have a contest today, dummy!"

I immediately sprang up as I heard the word contest. Today was the day. I just had to win that contest! One more little ribbon and I'd be heading to the Grand Festival! The thought of it all just pumped me up.

I raced to the bathroom, hurrying with my daily activities, then changed into the outfit I'd be wearing for this contest. After working for Carl, he'd allowed me to keep the dress I'd worn while performing. I decided to wear that.

Kokoa was frowning when I came out of the bathroom. "You take too long!"

"Sorry! I don't usually dress up, but when I do-"

"I get it!" she cut me off. "Let's just go! It's your big day! We can't be late!"

"You're right!" I agreed, grabbing my pokeballs. "Let's go!"

We hurried out into the hallway where the boys waited as usual. Taking Akako's hand, we all ran together until we arrived in the contest hall. It was packed! Many coordinators were packed in, each hoping to earn a ribbon before it was too late. I suddenly felt a bit nervous, but I tried not to let it show. I had to win this! I just had to!

"Ichigo?" I heard Akako say to me.

I looked up at him. "What is it?"

He blushed. "Um...I just wanted to say good luck. And if you don't win, I still think you're the best coordinator there is."

I blushed and turned away a bit so he wouldn't see my pure red face. "Thank you, Akako. That means a lot to me..."

"Ichigo, one more thing..."

"Hm?" I asked, turning around.

He leaned in and stole a kiss, his fire burning within me. I got the usual melting feeling as he touched me. He smiled handsomely at me as he pulled away.

"For good luck," he told me, referring to our kiss.

"Now I know I'll win," I laughed, still blushing.

"All coordinators report backstage!" I heard a man call.

"See you all later!" I called to my friends.

"Good luck!" they each called back.

I nodded and turned away, jogging over to the man who's called. I walked through the doors and entered the backstage area where I saw many coordinators circled around someone. I joined in the crowd, curious to see what was going on. I gasped.

In the middle of the circle stood a girl wearing a Millennium labcoat. Two Pokemon, a Cincinno and a Elektross stood beside her.

"Listen up, princesses!" she shouted at the coordinators. "I want to make a bet with all of you! You all think you're amazing, right? You think you've got this contest one?"

"Um, yeah!" some girls called back.

"If you're so confident, then bet on it. If any of you girls win this contest, I'll do anything you ask me to do. However, if I win, I want all of your Pokémon."

"Deal!" one girl called. "A loser like you won't win!"

"Yeah!" I heard many other girls agree.

I pushed passed the crowd of girls, approaching the Millennium grunt. She gave me a dirty look, recognizing my face immediately.

"You're Ichigo Hatake?" she asked me.

"That's my name," I replied, crossing my arms.

"I was hoping you'd show up," she cackled. "Your Pokémon are mine!"

"I don't think so," I hissed. "There's no way a person like you can win! Do you even care about those two Pokémon?"

"Of course not," she answered. "After the contest, I'm sure you can guess what I'll do with them. I'm just using them to win. And once I do, the Rerara contest Pokémon will be mine."

"I won't let that happen!" I growled at her. "Because I, personally, will be the one to bring you down in this contest!"

"Akuma was right, you're a feisty one," the girl laughed. "His daughter must be rubbing off on you."

I glared at her and she just sighed. "Anyway, my name is Kila. We'll be rivals this contest."

I extended my hand. "May the _best_ coordinator win. I definitely won't let you do as you please here."

She took my hand and shook it. "We'll just see about that little girl."

Kila then jerked back her hand immediately, kicking her two Pokémon forward. I growled angrily, wanting to help the Pokémon. She quickly disappeared into the crowd of coordinators though, disappearing from sight.

As I looked up at the tv, I saw her walk out on stage. She was the first one up. Kila seemed like a natural coordinator, commanding her Pokémon perfectly, the stage shining with light. The judges glared at her though, knowing she didn't belong. She must have forced herself into the contest somehow. As the camera flashed by people in the stands, I saw my three friends glaring at her, seeing she was from Millennium. I knew I couldn't let her win this.

After a long while of waiting and watching as others performed, it was finally my turn to go up.

"Ichigo, you're next!" a man called.

I hurried with my pokeballs as I ran down the hall, heading towards the stage. As the spotlight shone on me, I knew I couldn't afford to make any mistakes. I had to keep fighting until I took out Kila and won the contest. I had to be as professional as possible.

"Chestnut and Static, it's your time to shine!" I called as the two Pokémon appeared on stage.

Yesterday, as I'd practiced some contest moves in secret, my cute little Swinub, Chestnut, had finally evolved, turning into a Piloswine. Now Plioswine would be performing.

"Chestnut, use ancient power!" I commanded.

Many tiny, glowing, white balls were shot from Piloswine mouth, dancing in the air beautifully. As they started to fall, it was Static's cu to act.

"Now, Static! Thunder!"

Shinx unleashed its thunder attack, hitting the ancient power. The two acts worked together, exploding in vibrant colors. The sparkles fell down, looking captivating. My two Pokémon both leaped through the sparkles, pretending as if it were falling rain. The audience clapped, pleased with our work.

My Pokémon and I took a bow as our performance ended. Before returning them to their pokeballs, I gave them poffins as a reward for their good work. Once they were away in their pokeballs I came backstage, awaiting the moment they'd announce the results.

As the board began displaying who'd be moving on, my eye caught Kila, standing close to the back in a corner. She smiled triumphantly at the board. I took a look. Both her and I would be moving on.

As the match-ups showed, I sighed. I wouldn't be battling her this round, but I'd keep going until I took her out. There was no way I'd let a girl like her hurt people's Pokémon. The stakes were all too high. If Kila, won, it was over. I'd battle my hardest to ensure that wouldn't happen.

**Sorry if I jumped into the contest too quicly. I hope you're enjoying though. I just started reading the manga "Black Butler." I don't know why I chose to mention that but tell me if you're a fan too. Anyway, that's it this chapter! Sayonara!**

** -IchigoHatake**


	64. Rerara Contest Finale!

Chapter 64

**Hello. I realize I spelled a few Pokémon names wrong last chapter so sorry. They're fixed this chapter and I'll go back to change them later. Thank you.**

I fought hard to get my spot in the top four, using an unusual combination of fire and grass, Amber and Evergreen. The two of them managed to win though as we advanced to the finals.

Kila advanced as well and as I looked at the top four match-ups, we weren't against each other. It looked like I wouldn't battle her unless we both made it to the finals.

As I faced Alezia, my opponent this round, I heard my three friends cheering for me loudly, telling me that I had to make it to the finals. With their encouragement, I managed another win, earning my spot in the finals.

As I faced the tv, I watched as Kila fought a girl name Stacy. Cinncino and Eelektross battled their very best, looking scared of what Kila might do if they lost. I felt really bad for them. In the end, Kila earned another victory, meaning that it was all up to me to take her out.

"Good luck. You'll need it," Kila hissed at me.

"I'm going to win this," I shot back. "And when I win, I want you to give those two Pokémon to me."

"Deal," she agreed. "It isn't like you'll win anyway. I don't see why Millennium thinks so highly of you. You're just a talentless loser and I'll prove it here and now."

"We'll see about that," I growled. "I have faith in my Pokémon. No matter what, they always pull through for me in the end. I'm sure today won't be any different."

"Trusting Pokémon is stupid," Kila snarled. "They're all so stupid. I don't understand them at all."

"Then maybe you can learn something from our battle," I remarked before walking down the hall to my side of the field. I heard her begin walking her way.

I looked down at the two pokeballs in my hands. In my right hand I held my partner and in my left hand, I had more most recently caught Pokémon. Even though I spent very different amounts of time with these Pokémon, I still had the same amount of trust in them. I loved both of them so much and I believed with all my heart they could do anything for me.

"Let's do our best you two, okay?" I whispered to the pokeballs.

Then, I stepped out on stage, the familiar blinding lights meeting my eyes. I took a second to adjust before smiling out at the crowd, then facing towards my opponent. Kila waved at me, a smirk carved into her face. I wondered how a person who despised Pokémon so much could've gotten this far.

'She won't go any further,' I thought to myself. 'It's all or nothing now. If we lose now, she's going to take everyone's Pokemon!'

As the time limit started, I acted immediately, twirling around and unleashing my Pokémon. "Evergreen! Amber! It's your time to shine!"

The two Pokémon landed beautifully on stage, posing together. Kila's Eelektross and Cinccino entered nicely as well, posing back-to-back and looking tough.

"Let's start this up!" I called to my Pokémon. "Evergreen, use sunny day! Then Amber, use overheat!"

Leafeon used sunny day, beautiful yellow glitter falling down, powering up Amber's fire power. Once Amber was powered up, she used overheat, striking Eelektross and Cinccino in one sweep.

Kila's Pokémon cried out, both taking a good chunk of damage. Kila glared at me, trying to strike me dead with her eyes. I could tell that she had no intention of being defeated.

"Eelektross, Cinccino! Use dragon claw and toxic!"

The two Pokémon struck quickly. Eelektross getting a good swipe at both of my Pokémon. Cinccino's toxic landed as well, poisoning both of my Pokémon. Since I'd given much of my supplies for my friends to use, I couldn't heal their poison. I'd just have to take out Kila's Pokémon before the poison could take us out.

"Evergreen and Amber, double solar beam!"

Since sunny day was in effect, we didn't have to wait for solar beam to charge. Both just let it rip, striking Eelektross and Cinccino full blast. Cinccino fell to the ground, looking weak.

"Get up now!" Kila hissed at the poor Pokémon.

It whimpered, trying to get up, but it fell back down. It had fainted. Kila snarled and glared over at Eelektross.

"You better win this or else!" she threatened the Pokémon. It cried out then turned to face us, looking angry.

"Thunder! Full power!" she commanded the Pokémon.

Eelektross unleashed its electricity at full strength, hitting my Pokémon with both power and beauty. Evergreen and Amber cried out, taking it hard.

"Don't give up!" I called out to them. "I know you two can win this!"

My Pokémon both smiled over at me, new strength showing in their eyes. They nodded, shaking off the attack and awaiting their next command.

"Evergreen, shadow ball!" I shouted. "And Amber, fire blast!"

The shadow ball and fire blast combined together into one, powerful attack. The fire was darkened by the shadow ball and it hurtled quickly at Eelektross.

"Dodge it!" hissed Kila, a menacingly look in her eyes.

Eelektross did try, but it couldn't escape out attack which I'd nicknamed shadow blast. It hit Eelektross hard, sending it flying back. The timer then went off, ending the contest. Kila and I both shot over to look at the scoreboard.

"Ichigo is our grand winner!" announced the MC.

The audience cheered and I heard my friends whooping and hollering.

"Way to go, Ichigo!" Takuya called.

"You kicked ass!" I heard Kokoa cheer.

"You were amazing!" Akako called out to me.

I screamed victoriously, realizing that my next stop was the Grand Festival! I ran over and embraced my Pokémon, thanking them for all that they'd done. Without them, I couldn't have won.

I heard Kila clear her throat and I looked over at her. "You won..."

"Yeah," I said dumbly. "Good match."

Kila looked over at Cinccino and Eelektross, who wnced at her, looking fearful.

She sighed. "Maybe Pokémon aren't that terrible. You sure have a great bond with them. I think I'm going to quit Millennium."

"That's good!" I cheered.

She handed me her pokeballs. "You won so please find these two Pokémon a good home. I have some thinking to do."

"Alright," I promised. "I know just the place for these two."

She nodded, then ran off stage, not looking back. I called back all the Pokémon, then walked over to receive my ribbon. The Rerara ribbon was a bright yellow with white triangles decorating it. I happily took it, filling the final spot in my case.

After waving good-bye to the audience, I quickly changed and ran out to the contest hall, meeting up with my friends. After hearing there praises, we all went over to the Pokémon rescue center in town. They happily took in Cinccino and Eelektross.

Once that was over, my friends and I huddled up, not knowing what to do next.

"What now?" asked Takuya.

"I'm not sure," I answered. "We all reached our goals. All there's left to do is wait for the festival and League to begin."

"Maybe...we could split up and train," suggested Akako.

"What do you mean?" asked Kokoa.

"I want to train with Ichigo," Akako answered. "Show her my hometown, see hers, and train with her."

"So you want Takuya and I to train separately from you?" asked Kokoa.

"That can be arranged," said Takuya, looking happily at Kokoa.

"So our team is going to be split up?"

"Just for a month," said Akako, nodding.

"Wow, I never thought we'd be splitting up," I sighed.

"It isn't forever," Kokoa reminded me. "It's only for a month. How about we all meet up with each other again back here in Rerara?"

"Alright," we all agreed.

I suddenly felt very sad. Although it wasn't for long, I'd be saying good-bye to my friends. We all needed to train though and maybe splitting up a bit might help us. I hugged Kokoa good-bye and shook hands with Takuya, trying not to make a scene and cry.

"Bye Aka-baka! Ichigo!" Kokoa called as we started walking away, heading for Akako's hometown.

"Be safe and don't do anything inappropriate!" Takuya laughed.

I rolled my eyes and took Akako's hand as we started down the trail. I felt mixed emotions as Kokoa and Takuya disappeared from sight. I wouldn't be seeing them for a while, but I looked forward to the day we'd meet up again in Rerara. There was a month until the Grand Festival and I had to hurry up and train.

A new adventure unfolded as Akako and I began traveling on out own. Who knows what awaited us. And I refused to be upset because I knew that we'd regroup and we'd be even stronger the next time we saw each other.


End file.
